Family Discussion (or, the many trials of life with the de Niles)
by UnluckyThirteenth
Summary: Monster High RP focusing on Cleo de Nile, and the troubles she faces with having a sister who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and an overly controlling father. Posted as a single fanfiction at the request of Tumblr user midnightmoonlightmusic.
1. Of School Report Cards

_Author's note:_

 _Once again, I bring news from Tumblr._

 _This is basically a cut-and-paste directly from the individual RP posts, with only a slight bit of revision where spelling mistakes have been missed._

 _I would like to give a big thank you to Tumblr user Anabelle-Robinson, who does all of the work characterizing Nefera and Ramses via the 'askneferadenile' and 'askramsesdenile' RP accounts. Go and follow them!_

 _And while you're there, remember to follow 'ask-cleo-and-deuce'. You'll get early access to the rest of the RP that way!_

* * *

The last day of school was an exciting day for really EVERY monster! The school day had passed really quick and every monster was happy to finally leave school and make all the stress disappear! But for Cleo, the stress was just about to start because it was already evening and there was one thing the princess didn't do yet: Show her father the report she has gotten. It was already clear that Ramses would be anything but pleased to see the many F's his daughter got in school…

Cleo looked at the report for what seemed like the millionth time, and the several bold letter "F"s down the one side. It was getting late, and Cleo had put off showing her father for too long already. She reasoned with herself that none of her failed classes were ones that really _mattered_ , not to a princess at least, and took one final deep breath before nodding towards one of her servants, signaling for him to knock on the door to Ramses' private rooms.

Ramses looked up from the bills he was holding in his hand. "Who's there?" he asked in an annoyed voice. The fact that Ramses hated to get interrupted from his work didn't really make the situation better for Cleo. Maybe staying home and learning would have been a better idea than traveling to Scaris and going shopping with Ghoulia…

Their servant opened the door, and Cleo resisted the urge to duck her head in shame - a true de Nile would never do something like that. Clearing her throat to stop her voice from wavering, Cleo feigned confidence as she strode across the room and held out the report card to her father. "I have my end-of-year grades for you, Daddy."

Ramses seemed interested in what his daughter had for him. He took the report, expecting pure perfection–Just like the reports Nefera always used to give him. Grades worse than an A could not be forgiven. Ramses got a shock when he saw the Fs the report presented him. "CLEO!"

Cleo shrank back a bit from her father. "B-but daddy, it's hardly any of the subjects that matter." She quickly started on the speech she'd been preparing in her head since reading the report card, "When am I really going to need practical experience in cooking and sewing? I have As in Freaky Economics and Clawculus, not to mention Dead Languages - that one _alone_ should count for 2 because Mr. Rotter does NOT give A's."

Even if it wasn't good for her, Ramses could not hold himself back from yelling at his youngest daughter. "What kind of excuse is that?!" Again, he generated the same arguments as always… "Cleo, you are a de Nile. And a de Nile does not have a grade less than perfect, let alone an F! Didn't you learn anything in your childhood?! Did your mother indulge you too much?!"

Silence.

Before Ramses stopped daunting his daughter, there was, of course, still this one little thing he had to mention. Just like always…  
"Mr. Rotter does not give As?! How could your sister have As in all her classes then, hm?!"

Cleo looked back up from the spot on the floor she had been focusing her gaze on during her father's side of their argument to meet his eyes again. "I couldn't tell you. Maybe he was more lenient when Nefera was in school, all I know is that it's general knowledge amongst all of the students that Mr Rotter does _not_ give _A_ s."

Cleo sighed. There was really no use in trying to argue with her father, especially not in circumstances like these where she knew that she could have done better. "I'm sorry, Daddy, you're right. I shouldn't have put less focus on certain subjects just because I didn't deem them as important. I'll try harder in those classes next semester…" her voice quietened "… I won't disappoint you again."

Ramses' voice became a bit softer… "Cleo, tell me, how could it come this far?" …but really only for one sentence. "Is it this boy who has been interrupting you from learning?! Do you think your relationship with that boy is more important than school?! Cleo, what should the others think of you, of us, of our family?!

I know you are an intelligent, young lady. You just can't afford to have someone by your side who holds you back as much as that snakey-haired boy uses to! He is destroying your whole future, don't you see?!  
Your sister was an excellent student. And do you know why? Because she knows that people who are as low on the pyramid as your boyfriend, are an obstacle. An obstacle for you. An obstacle for us. Don't let this boy destroy your whole future, Cleo, let him go. He is not worth it."

Cleo's eyes widened at her father's statement. She had expected him to make some kind of comment about Deuce, but she had never thought it would be anything so blatant. "Daddy, my relationship with Deuce has absolutely _nothing_ to do with the drop in my grades. It has the exact _opposite_ of an effect on my grades! Why, if I even took _half_ of Deuce's advice then I would have aced _at least_ culinary arts!"

Cleo took a deep breath before continuing. No need to raise her voice at her father and make things worse. "Despite what you may think, Deuce isn't the high school drop out type you paint him to be, Daddy. His grades may not be perfect A+'s across the board, but he really does _try_ …" she crossed her arms and looked away "… certainly harder than I did."

"You don't understand, Cleo! Your boyfriend is a slacker! He does not care about school, let alone tries to have good grades! I allowed you to go out with him, I thought it might make you happy! But how could I know that he bothers you that much?!" Ramses sighed. He remembered himself not to yell at his daughters so much, so his voice became quieter.

"You are not going to meet this boy anymore, Cleo. The only thing you will do the next three months is learn! More than you ever did! Now go to your room. It is already late and you won't stay up longer than 8 pm!" Cleo knew that her father was extremely serious about everything he said! He would probably even check if and how much she learned! Ugh, why did her father just have to be so strict?!

Cleo opened her mouth, about to say something back, but thought better of it, and followed their Anubis servants back to her own room. He wouldn't have listened anyway.

Cleo knew how angry her father could get so when she arrived at her room, she went to sleep. A long, stressful day was waiting for her…

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed it so far, there's more to come... much, much more._


	2. Of Nefera being Nefera

The next morning.

Cleo was sleeping like a baby until she was woken up by a loud noise. What was that?! When the princess opened her eyes, she saw someone in her room she really did NOT want to see at all: her sister Nefera. The loud noise was Cleo's earring collection. It fell to the ground because "someone" had to "borrow" something without asking again! NEFERA!

The loud noise instantly had Cleo sitting bolt upright in her queen size four poster bed, and she pulled back the drapes to glare at her older sister. " _NEFERA_ , get out of my room!"

Looking down at the source of the crash, Cleo gasped at the sight of her beautiful earrings strewn across the floor, and jumped out of bed to make sure than none were lost or broken.

Nefera turned around. Normally, she would have been angry at Cleo for yelling at her but the crown princess just heard something she really wanted to tell her sister. "Oh, little sister. I just heard your school report was less than horror-ible. Did the teachers finally notice your stupidity, you little baby?" She made a fake smile and laughed. Ahhh~ Putting others, especially Cleo, down made Nefera feel so superior and good about herself! It really was a shame that Cleo didn't make more mistakes.

Having already been effectively grounded for the entire summer and with her entire collection of earrings in shambles, Cleo realised that she couldn't be having a worse day or get into any more trouble than she already was, so she had no issue with talking back to her older sister.

"Do you really think I don't know about Bloodgood's ongoing inquiry into your exam results? Our Headless Headmistress may be tolerant of most things, but cheating is certainly _not_ one of them. When the inquiry is successful - and it will be, I'm sure - you might just have to repeat your final year, and what would our Father think then?"

With hearing this, Nefera's arrogant self seemed to break a little bit. That was, of course, a reason to point out Cleo's insecurities… Again.

"Oh, please. You are just jealous because I am much smarter than you. The fact that you will never be as successful, popular and beautiful as me, is something you can't really handle, little sister, can you? How sad that you'll always be a little, unwanted disappointment. Especially to Daddy."

Cleo stood back up from the floor with her hands full of recovered jewellery, ready to replace then in the display. "Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Some work to do in your modelling career? Oh, wait, you don't do you?"

Nefera's eyes became filled with hate. She was FURIOUS! "I am a world-famous supermodel, more than you will ever be, you little failure. Why don't you go search your actual parents? Or did you already forget that you're adopted?"

Cleo stomped her foot in anger " _I am not adopted Nefera_! I am just as much a part of this family - just as much a princess - as you are. Now _please_ get out of my room… I need to study."

Nefera laughed. "Do you really think so? May I remember you who's next in line to our-, I mean, -MY father's throne? It's not you." She made a fake smile.

Cleo fake smiled back as she gritted her teeth and repeated herself "Nefera, get. out. of. my. room."

"Did you forget your place in line AGAIN, little sister? I am older than you and you can't tell me anything." She was still smiling, as fake as a Barbie doll.

Cleo made a noise of frustration and stormed back to her bed, grabbing a selection of school books on the way and closing the drapes on her four poster. With any luck, if she chose not to respond any more then her sister would get bored and leave by herself.

Hissette slithered out of her usual place in Cleo's shoe closet and under the canopy, joining her in the center of the oversized bed.

Nefera would never admit it, but she had seriously NOTHING to do, so she could spend all of her 'precious time' on her little sister. She walked towards Cleo, grabbed one of her school books and took a look. One look at the text made Nefera immediately remember how she was sitting there, three years ago, without ANY idea what to do. She got an A with cheating. Remembering her flaws? No! It was a great time to just put Cleo down. It was making Nefera feel much better about herself, and made Cleo feel stupid A win-win situation, really.

"Is THAT what you have problems with, little sister? How can you be so stupid? When I was still in school, I was excellent at everything I did, and little baby stuff like this was no problem for me. You can be glad that you are a de Nile… IF you are a de Nile. Because someone as stupid as you will never reach anything in unlife." Nefera laughed. Ahhhh~ Putting little babies down felt so good, especially when the little baby was Cleo.

Cleo frowned angrily, practically yelling at her sister "I am _NOT_ stupid, Nefera. I just chose not to study, and now I'm paying for making the wrong decision."

She snatched the textbook back, before an idea came to her… "Of course, you could always _help me_ study - it would _definitely_ prove how much _smarter_ you are than me." Cleo opened a page of her Trigular Calconometry book, presenting it for Nefera to see - not that that was one of the subjects she was particularly unconfident in, she just wanted to give Nefera a reason to excuse herself.

Cleo's plan worked. Showing her skills could prove that Nefera has flaws, so an excuse was needed. No problem for Nefera, the master of making up excuses for her behaviour and actions.

"Pah! Of course I could help you study, but I am way too busy to waste my precious time on something as unwanted as you! I have important businesses to deal with. For example, my career as a world-famous supermodel!"

While leaving the room angrily, there was still something else Nefera had to say, "You are a stupid, little baby and you will never be as good as me!"

It seemed like Nefera really BELIEVED to be a world-famous supermodel.

Cleo smiled to herself and petted Hissette as she watched Nefera sashay out of her room. The smile soon fell however as she started on her summer revision. The more she read up on the topics she had failed in, the less sense she seemed to be able to make of it.

It continued on like this for several days, with Cleo feeling more and more like she was being trapped in her tomb as summer life passed her by.

Rather than continue studying, Cleo started to make plans on how she could get out of spending her entire vacation indoors. It was time to go and ask daddy for a favor.


	3. Of the Inclusion of Ghoulia

Ramses was working. No matter if he was sad, happy, angry, tired or stressed, working was almost always what he did. Taking care of his businesses and ruling over his 'empire', just like he always used to back in Egypt. Today was sadly not a good day to work because Ramses had the feeling that he had been to strict with his youngest daughter. Of course, her report was bad but her well-being meant everything to Ramses and Cleo really looked upset after she was talking to him the day before. Ramses felt like he had to excuse, but he felt way too proud to. Luckily, his youngest daughter was just about to visit him in his working room…

One of their servants opened the door to Ramses' work room, and Cleo stepped inside. She wrung her hands together and assumed the large-eyed, hopeful 'please can I have this daddy' expression that she had mastered over the millennia. "Daddy, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Even if the Pharaoh was happy to see his daughter, he kept on eying her sternly, still not showing any emotions. Ramses loved his daughters dearly, he was just unable to show it. "Yes, my daughter. What is your problem?"

"Well… I was just thinking that I would do far better in my studies if I had someone to study _with_ …"

Rocking back and forth on her heels, Cleo put on the sweetest voice she could muster "… so can I _please_ have Ghoulia come and help me? She makes an excellent mentor, you won't be disappointed."

Ramses sighed and looked in Cleo's light blue eyes. "Cleo, can I be sure that you will learn and NOT waste your time? Not that this ghoul will bother instead of helping you." A second before Ramses wanted to let his daughter invite Ghoulia, he thought of something else. "How about you ask your sister to help you? She was an excellent student. I am also able to call a mentor who will come here and explain everything, just for you." Again, Ramses was ready spend much effort and money on his daughter's well-being.

Cleo pulled a face at the idea of having Nefera tutor her. She would probably end up doing _worse_. "Oh, no, Nefera would be far too busy with her 'career' to help, I'm sure… I'd really rather it was Ghoulia, Daddy. No time wasting, I promise." The fact that having Ghoulia as her mentor would give her a contact on the outside world was, of course, besides the point.

Ramses sighed again, this time in an annoyed way. "Cleo, I know what is good for you and it's certainly not having your common ghoulfriends around you. They'll hold you back, young lady, don't you understand? I am sure your sister is able to tutor you much better than these 'others'."

There were two things that went through Cleo's mind. The first thing was that her father could be awfully stubborn and the second thing was that he had a dislike for all of her friends. Not a good combination..

"Daddy, I can assure you that there is _no way_ on Geb's earth that Ghoulia could possibly 'hold me back' in education. She has literally _the_ highest GPA in school, and takes _all_ of the AP classes! I'll even have her bring her report card, if you like." The desperation was starting to show in Cleo's voice, so she took a breath to calm down before continuing. No need to show any sign of weakness to her father. "Ghoulia and I have been friends for quite some time now, and I know that if anyone can give me the advice that I need, it's her."

Ramses needed a second to think about his daughter's words. "Hmm… Fine. You can invite your ghoulfriend over. I have a business meeting in an hour and I am expecting you to learn as much as you can. I will be back in the evening and will take a look at what exactly you did. The servants will watch you to make sure that you are really doing what you are supposed to. Your sister is also here to keep an eye on you. And don't forget, I will come back and check what you did, daughter. Don't leave the palace and don't forget to learn perfectly. You know, a break of my rules will get punished."

Cleo knew that control was a big thing in her father's unlife. Hopefully Nefera won't mess anything up and bring Cleo in trouble with their father.

Cleo beamed with happiness and quickly hugged her father before returning to her room. Her currently confiscated phone was returned briefly so that she could call Ghoulia and ask her over.

She considered secretly messaging Deuce under the guise of "searching her phonebook", but decided better of it. Her boyfiend would be enjoying himself in Greece right about now, no need to involve him just yet and possibly sabotage herself in the process.

Pressing the entry on her phone screen to call Ghoulia, Cleo waited impatiently for her friend to answer the phone. After briefly explaining the situation, there was a pause as Ghoulia considered how this would fit into her schedule, but ultimately she agreed that she could visit that afternoon.

Hanging up her iCoffin and returning it to the Anubis servant currently overseeing her actions, Cleo smiled to herself. It seemed like her plan was going to go quite smoothly.

Ramses would be leaving soon and Nefera did NOT like the fact that he allowed Cleo to invite her stupid 'friends'! In Nefera's opinion, Ramses needed to be MUCH stricter with Cleo. The crown princess was sure, something needed to happen to make daddy extremely angry.. Angry about Cleo.

Nefera walked towards her sister, trying to bring her down. Ramses was not with them so Nefera had no need to be careful with what she said. "Did you get what you want, you little disappointment?!"

Cleo crossed her arms and turned to sit facing away from her sister with a 'huff'.

"That doesn't really concern you, Nefera."

"Be silent! Everything about you concerns me, I'm your older sister!" She began to yell. "Did you forget your place?! Do I need to show it to you again?!"

Cleo glared at her sister, open-mouthed in shock and rage, not quite knowing how to respond, before standing to stomp her foot for emphasis. "You aren't queen yet, Nefera."

Several servants were already standing by to break up any ensuing fight.

"You aren't either. But don't get your hopes up, little Cleo, you will never be. You were born for no reason."

For Nefera, it was not about getting Cleo in trouble. She found out that words could hurt much more than actions.

Cleo screamed in frustration and barged past the servants in an attempt to make an escape from her sister, opting to lock herself in her en suite for the time being - the soothing smell of her various bath salts and lotions was always good for calming her down.

With any luck, Ghoulia would arrive soon and Nefera would be long gone.

Nefera walked after her little sister, with a huge feeling of superiority. "Are you running away from your fears and flaws, little sister?"

She sat at the edge of the oversized bath, turning on the water to block out the sound of her sister's voice. She had no intention of actually getting in, the running water was just therapeutic.

Adding some juniper oil, she called out to her sister, "I'm busy."

"With what? Hiding your insecurities?" Nefera laughed. Ahhh~ What a funny person she was.

Suddenly Nefera heard the door bell. Before the servants could reach the door, the princess already opened it. Ghoulia was standing there, wanting to come in. "Cleo is not there," Nefera said in a good mood and closed the door without caring about the zombie ghoul who was standing outside.  
The servants knew, if they were going to let Ghoulia in, Nefera would get extremely angry. And there was NOBODY who wanted to be near Nefera when she was angry. Especially not a servant who could lose his job…

Cleo heard Nefera leaving and breathed a deep breath before it suddenly hit her - _that must have been Ghoulia at the door_.

She quickly turned off the tap in a panic, hurrying out of the room and rushing through the house to the door, hoping that she could reach the door before either Ghoulia left or Nefera found her.

Nefera had decided that the plan to send Cleo's friend away would be much easier than the plan to get Cleo in trouble with Ramses.

She heard her little sister coming and turned around. Nefera smirked. "Hello, little baby sister. Did you decide to leave your little hiding place now?" She made a fake smile and petted Cleo's head. "There was someone at the door for you. I thought it was a good idea to send that 'someone' away. We are royalty and royalty does not want to have commoners around. How about your spend your free time with adoring me and making me compliments about my timeless beauty, wisdom and leadership, hmm?"

Ah, being a big sister could feel so good. Especially by the look at Cleo's sad/angry face.

Cleo pulled away from Nefera's condescending head patting angrily. "You do realize she was here by _our father's wishes_ , don't you? Do you want to be in trouble with Daddy for standing in the way of my education, or would you rather we spend our time together _studying_?"

She pointed a finger at her sister "You know, you were his _first_ choice to be my mentor otherwise, Oh Wise Older Sister."

It was the time of the argument again where Nefera just wanted to hit her little sister. She had this need several times a day, but she knew that it was HER who was in trouble if she really dared to hurt her sister.

"Waste my precious time on you? Who do you think I am? One of these losers you creep around with at Monster High? Of course not. Spending my time with you would probably make me as dumb as you. And that's really something I do NOT want to be.

I am a very intelligent ghoul and would be a great mentor. Even to you. Your problem is just that you are scared of me knowing your flaws and insecurities! Poor, poor Cleo!" Nefera said 'hugging' Cleo aggressively.

Cleo pulled away from the hug, still glaring at her sister, but sounding hopeful. "Well then, you'll want to let Ghoulia in, won't you? Instead of spending all of your precious time with me."

Nefera laughed, she felt like being in power. But what was the smartest thing to do now? What would get Cleo in trouble with Ramses? Nefera could let Ghoulia outside and make up a lie for their father, he wasn't going to believe Cleo anyway. But what if it would get herself in trouble too? Argh! Nefera could let Ghoulia in and make up a terror-ible plan to make Cleo… regret the fact that she was born!

Nefera petted her little sister's head again as she walked to the door and opened it. "You know how much I love you, little sister!" A confused Ghoulia was standing in the door when Nefera left the room, with a big smirk on her face.


	4. Of the Exclusion of Ghoulia

When Ghoulia finally stepped in, Cleo didn't think she had been happier to see another monster outside of her own family and servants in her unlife. All but dragging her slow-moving friend into her private tomb, she got to work on explaining the situation. She handed over her report card, biting on her lower lip, feeling that she was being judged.

Ghoulia took a pen from her pocket and started to make notes on what subjects needed focusing on.

"/ _Okay, so you got A's in Physical Deaducation, Freaky Economics and Dead Languages_ " ***** Ghoulia remarked, crossing them off of the list as she went; no need to concentrate on improving subjects that Cleo was already doing well in.

"And Clawculus" Cleo pointed out.

" _/And Clawculus_ " Ghoulia confirmed, skimming the page and finding the grade that Cleo was referring to.

"What can I say," Cleo leaned back in her spot on the bed, basking in her small piece of glory, "Being good at mathematics is just part of my scaritage."

" _/Then why did you only get a C in Trigular Calconometry?_ " Ghoulia groaned, turning the page towards her GFF and tapping the grade for said class.

"Oh, that…" Cleo slumped back forwards "… actually, I'm pretty sure I fell asleep part way through that test, otherwise I would have been fine." Ghoulia gave her friend a disapproving look at that comment, but Cleo felt as though she was justified in her actions, "What? There was a big online sale starting at midnight the night before the test, and well, you know me." she shrugged "Besides, _everyone_ fell asleep in that test."

Ghoulia frowned, " _/I didn't._ "

"Well, that's basically your comic book super power, isn't it? Not falling asleep in boring classes?" Cleo joked "We should call you DeadSmart."

Ghoulia couldn't help but smile at Cleo's attempt at making references, even if she was making light of a serious situation. She jotted down some notes making TC an area to pick up on and continued down the list.

"/ _B's in Art and Drama? I thought you enjoyed those classes?_ "

Cleo didn't even try to disguise the bitterness in her voice. "Toralei."

Ghoulia silently crossed them off of her list. If that was the real reason for Cleo's less than perfect score, then there was nothing that any amount of practice could do about it. " _/What about Hiss-tory? You only got a C._ "

"Well, obviously the way _I_ remember it is different from the way the _text books_ remember it - and I don't think they appreciate personal opinions in the exam paper."

More notes on things that needed revising. "/ _And Mad Science? You managed to get an A in Chemistry, but then you failed on both biteology and phys-icks._ "

"Now that's because I don't find biteology or phys-icks interesting." Cleo had begun filing her nails as they ran through the list, as if these were all perfectly natural reasons for why she shouldn't have passed. "Of course I got high marks on Chemistry, that's where we handed in our perfumery experiment together, remember? If Mr. Hack really wanted me to succeed in the whole class, then he would have made the other subjects more engaging as well."

" _/You can't just pick and choose which subjects you do and don't want to do Cleo - one out of 3 still only gives you an overall D in Mad Science._ "

"D" Cleo corrected her.

Ghoulia rolled her eyes as she continued to make notes. " _/And you failed both halves of Home Ick? Cooking I expected, after the booffle failure and cookie monster fiasco - but Fashion 101?_ "

"Ugh, don't even get me _started_ on that!" Cleo crossed her arms very dramatically. "I had an excellent design for my work piece, totally golden, absolute A+ material. But _apparently_ , Mrs. Kindergrubber doesn't give grades if you don't have a finished product! And I do _**not**_ sew!"

" _/Have you ever tried?_ "

Cleo gave Ghoulia an incredulous look of 'ah-duh'. Ghoulia put a big circle around the Home Ick grade entry.

" _/And… a C in ge-ogre-aphy._ " Ghoulia looked up at Cleo, just waiting for the excuse.

And Cleo was ready to give one. "Well I got along with the monster-made side of things just fine - I mean, of course I'm going to need to know all about how industrialization works and its effect on different countries if I'm going to rule a successful entrepreneurial empire some day, not to mention all of the sections on tourism and hotel hotspots." she moved to place an elbow on her knee, propping up her head on her hand "but then the supernatural side of the subject… I just don't see how I'm going to need it, so I didn't bother studying."

" _/Just because you don't like a subject doesn't make it irrelevant, or mean that you shouldn't try in it._ "

"Well _maybe_ if you were still letting me use _your_ answers, then I wouldn't be in this mess anyway."

Cleo earned another disapproving look with that comment. Ghoulia knew that her friend wasn't stupid, but unfortunately she shared her sister's misguided belief that she should get all of the achievements with none of the work - and also unfortunately for Cleo, Ghoulia had learned to respect herself enough not to be the one forced into doing all of said work any more. It may not seem like it now, but Ghoulia knew that there was only one good way to go about this: " _/And now, maybe, you'll finally learn your lesson._ "

The zombie's expression held. Cleo's face fell. Clearly, her 'Plan A' for getting out of studying early - a.k.a. getting Ghoulia to give her all of the answers - wasn't going to work.

"All right then, Ghoulia, what exactly do you propose we do?"

By the time Cleo's father returned home from his important business, she and her ghoulfriend had worked together to create a work plan to manage the princess' studies, complete with visual aid - a large pyramid poster with a cut-out of Cleo to move upwards on her 'steps to success'.

Everything was laid out in a way that would not make it too boring or too overwhelming for Cleo to study by herself if need be - particularly during NecroCon week, when Ghoulia wouldn't be returning as a mentor.

Ghoulia had even gone so far as to pull up some saved files of past exams and homework sheets on her laptop to print off and use as revision and practice materials.

Even Cleo herself marveled at just how much easier the entire workload looked now that it was all laid out ready, instead of in one big, confusing mess. Once she graduated from Monster High and started on her own business ventures, she would definitely need to think about employing Ghoulia as her PA.

Cleo and Ghoulia continued their work. Cleo was pretty proud of herself but it wasn't long until Ghoulia had to leave.

Cleo was still working, when her sister came in. Nefera walked towards Cleo and petted her head again. She liked to do that because it made her feel in power and control and because Cleo disliked it. Nefera made a fake smile and spoke in a charming voice,

"How is it going, little sister?"

Cleo looked at her sister suspiciously, not quite understanding what the other was doing trying by to act ' _nice_ '. "It's going well, actually."

The desire to show that her sister was wrong about her overrode Cleo's mistrust, and she found herself instead showing off all of her newly organized revision tools and highlighted mock exams.

"It has been _exhausting_ , but I really think I'm on track to be finished before the end of Summer!"

Nefera smirked. "You did well, little sister. But look at your skin! You really look pale, did you learn too much? Oh my Ra, you did! You should take a break! Paleness does not look good on ANYONE! You look like you haven't slept in 1,300 years!"

Cleo still didn't trust her sister - especially with that fake vocal tone - but a quick spa break _did_ sound appealing. Giving it some thought, she came to the decision that maybe she _should_ take a chance and follow along with whatever Nefera was trying to do, just this once. For all Cleo knew, this could just be the one to change everything between them.

Nefera smirked evily when her little sister left her room to take a break. The crown princess took a look at her sister's notes. Ignoring the fact that she didn't understand anything Cleo needed to learn, she ripped and burned all of her sister's papers- just to be sure. She took the dust and threw it out of the window. Bye, bye Cleo's hopes~

Cleo did not know that her sister already called their father with the words, "Daddy! Cleo is not doing anything for school! I tried to help her but she told me that I was stupid and that you were way too strict! She also said that you were a bad father and that her boyfriend told her school was not important! You need to come home, father! Cleo is insane!" The fact that Nefera was a great actor and had true panic in her whiny voice, made Ramses furious! He promised to come home immediately!

Cleo had no idea what her sister was doing to ruin all of her hard work. She was far too preoccupied with being pampered, lounging wearing a soothing face mask and cucumber slices on each eye, and being fanned by one of the servants…

… which is exactly how her father came home to find her.

It was not difficult to hear the front door opening. "CLEO!" Cleo got the biggest shock of her unlife as she heard her father's angry voice. Without giving her five seconds to overthink the whole situation, Ramses came into the spa room to yell at his daughter. "CLEO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO LEARN–JUST AS I TOLD YOU!" Cleo couldn't remember the last time her father was THAT angry. But why? What did she do wrong? All of her work was done!

Cleo quickly lifted the cucumber slices from her eyes and sat up to see her father looming over her angrily and shrank back from him. "B-but I have, Daddy - I've hardly been in here!" This was hardly the reaction she was hoping to get from her father when he returned - so that was Neferas plan then? "I know how this looks, dady, but really, I have been working. Just let me show you."

Cleo hoped that her father would be okay with his daughter showing him her papers, but before he was able to answer, Nefera entered the room; just at the right time. "There you are, daddy! Finally! Cleo was not doing anything! I told her to learn and offered her my help but she told me that school was not important! She even insulted me! Me, you and our whole family!" Her voice became whiny. "Cleo became so aggressive, I am thanking the gods so much that they managed to bring you here before anyone got hurted!" Nefera was a great liar AND actor. She had no problem with lying at her father (or anyone else). Her whole life was a lie, and she believed all of her own lies, so she was really used to it.

Cleo glared at her sister, standing from the chaise lounge still wearing the green face mask "Oh please, Nefera, that is an absolute lie. Daddy, don't listen to her - why would I insult either of you? Over grades?"

Shooting the crown princess another look, she moved past them both, ushering for them to follow her "Let me show you all the work Ghoulia and I got done today."

"Why you would do this? Because you are absolutely crazy, that's why! And about what? About your stupid boyfriend! I would never lie to daddy! You just want to make me look bad! After all the things you did to me! I just wanted to help you! HELP! Deuce told you that father and me are stupid, didn't he?! I bet he did. But good, show us the work you did not do, little sister."

Cleo turned on her heel, hearing her sister's comment. "Deuce hasn't said ANYTHING like that! In fact, _I haven't even had contact with him lately_ so keep my boyfriend out of this."

She turned to lead the way back to her room again, doing her best to stay composed in front of her father and not storm down the hallways in response to her sister's words.

There was a big smirk on Nefera's face when she thought about what was just going to happen. Ramses seemed to be a little curious as well. When they arrived in Cleo's room, there were no notes, no papers, nothing. Not even the pens and books were still there. "Oh, I thought you learned so much, little baby sister?" Nefera said, hiding the smirk that was about to cross her pretty face.

Cleo looked around the empty room in disbelief. "But it was _all here_."

She started to look frantically around the room, opening drawers at random and even going so far as to look under the bed, the mattress and the covers.

"It was all here, I swear to Ra."

Nefera smirked. "You should not swear to the gods, little sister. Your stupidity is really not their fault." She couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Cleo glared at her sister, knowing that this had been her doing. Why else would Nefera have had any reason to suggest spending the evening in the spa room? Cleo felt so humiliated, not just for the situation she was in now, but for putting herself in this position in the first place.

She looked instead now to her father, her eyes silently pleading with him to realize that this wasn't her fault, but she already knew that it wouldn't do any good. Nefera was the crown princess, she was _perfection_. As the older and more responsible sibling, _she would never do anything like this_.

"Daddy, please, have one of your servants call Ghoulia. She can tell you what we did today."

"This is enough, Cleo! I allowed you to learn with a friend but what do I see when I return?! I find you relaxing in the spa room! And if that's not enough, now you still have the audacity to lie to me!" Her father was yelling, just as always.

"How will you ever get anything done in life if you act like this?! I will not call your ghoulfriend, for the simple reason that I am tired of being lied to! Do you think that's how a de Nile has to act?!"

Ramses slammed his fist on Cleo's desk. "No, it's not! That's not how a de Nile acts, that's how a pathetic loser acts!"

He pointed at her bed. "Go! Out of my sight! I don't want to see you anymore! You did enough to anger me and your sister!"

He got closer to his daughter. "You don't want to know what will happen if you dare to leave your room, young lady!"

The tears welled up in Cleo's eyes, but she wouldn't give her sister the satisfaction of seeing them, or shame herself any further by crying in front of her father.

She went to sit on her bed, as directed, and closed the drapes, waiting for both members of her family to leave before she finally let the tears roll down her face. She attempted to rub them away, smearing the green facial cream she had still been wearing across her bandages.

Hissette slithered back up onto the bed, and Cleo curled up, lying in the fetal position around the cobra.

It had all seemed like it was going so well, but now she was even worse off then she had started.

The disgraced princess cried herself to sleep, wondering the entire time: what am I supposed to do now?

* * *

*" _/translated from Zombie._ "


	5. Of Nefera continuing to be Nefera

When Cleo got up, it was already noon. Usually, in the holidays, Cleo, her sister and their father had their breakfast together. But not this time. Nobody came to wake Cleo up, not even one of the servants.

She was still laying in her bed, when the door suddenly opened. It was, of course, someone Cleo did NOT want to see. Nefera, with a smirk bigger than Amanita's ego. "Awww, did my little baby-sister cry herself to sleep?"

The princess laughed. It seemed like she was feeling like she just won A LOT of money. But it was not money Nefera was happy about. It was the fact that she made her father angry at her sister, who had obviously been crying all night.

Ahhhh~ Life could be so good. Finally, it was fair! Everybody had to get what they deserve and, in Nefera's opinion, Cleo deserved all of her tears. No matter what her sister was going to say, Nefera would try her best to make her feel even worse. From 'nobody loves you' to 'I am better than you'. All of it needed to be said. All of it!

It may have seemed immature, but Cleo felt that the best option right now was to give her sister the silent treatment. She didn't think she could speak to her right now anyway, not without either crying or screaming her lungs out at her, and neither would have any desirable results.

With Hissette still coiled around her arm and shoulders from the night before, Cleo cast her sister a look and silently made her way over to the vanity table. After removing what little of yesterday's makeup had remained on her face, she carefully worked on applying a new layer for the day ahead, covering up the puffy redness of her skin from where she had been crying.

Occasionally, she would glance behind her in the mirror to see if Nefera was still there, which unfortunately she was. Cleo didn't have time for this. She had a summer's worth of failed plans to repair.

"Oh, are you not talking to me?" Nefera laughed. How funny!

The princess walked towards her little sister and put her hand on Cleo's shoulder. "Me and daddy already ate breakfast! Without you! I was really concerned about what happened to my little baby sister but daddy did not want to have you with us. You are a mistake he never wanted. Nobody did." Some things Nefera told her sister were untrue, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that they hurt.

Nefera's hand went through her sister's hair. "Daddy mentioned that boyfriend of yours. He commanded you to break up with him. But you won't do that, will you? You like disappointing daddy and making him angry, don't you? Oh, I'm sure you do, you little baby. Nobody ever loved you. I hope you know that now."

Cleo's shoulders tensed at the feeling of her sister touching her head. Setting her liquid eyeliner back down on her vanity table, the younger de Nile cleared her throat. "What I would _like_ , Nefera," she feigned searching for something from her makeup collection as she considered her words, "is to be allowed to do as our father asked _in the first place_ and work on boosting my grades."

She glared at her sister's reflection, not wanting to move to try and face her while Nefera's hand was still in her hair. "I know what you did yesterday. If I'm so insignificant - if I'm such little threat to you - then why bother trying to push me any further down from your ' _gloriously perfect_ ' pyramid? What more do you have to gain?"

Nefera laughed. "It is lovely to see my little baby sister in such a helpless position. All I did was helping you to be a better person. All YOU did was hurting me. You should be proud to have a sister like me. But instead of that, you are being jealous? What's your problem, little sister? Do you feel unwanted?" Nefera made a sad face; as fake as always. Changing reality? No problem, Nefera did that often. The whole situation and all the problems she had were obviously Cleo's mistakes!

Of course Nefera believed her own lies, that was what made her so good at telling them.

Cleo silently wished that one of her ghouls could be here now to back her up. Frankie seemed so good at standing up against oppressors, and Clawdeen was so loyal and encouraging, not to mention Ghoulia, who was as understanding of Cleo as she was intelligent.

And then of course there was her boyfriend Deuce, who she missed now more than ever.

Suddenly, no, she didn't feel unwanted.

It was at that moment that Cleo realized exactly why Nefera was targeting her - it was because she was jealous. Jealous of everything that she always claimed she didn't need, and had therefore never had. It was sad really.

Cleo pushed her sister's hand away from her and stood from her seat, deciding that she needed to voice exactly what she had just been thinking.

"Actually, I don't feel helpless at all. Even if I have to stay in all summer, I know that I'll have people waiting for me when I come out. And believe me, _big sister_ , I will be finished before school starts again. Mark my words, I'll be at A+ level with enough time to catch the end-of-summer sales - _with my friends_."

Cleo's reaction made Nefera angry. How could she dare to talk to her older sister in such a manner?!

"There is nobody waiting for you. You are unwanted and unloved, and you have always been. You will never be as good in school as I was. You will never be as good in anything as I was, to be exact.

You are a little mistake, with as much intelligence as a toaster. An ugly toaster. And if you dare to talk to me like this again, I will call daddy and he is not afraid of punishing you again, you stupid waste of space! Tell father what you want, he won't believe you anyway! He believes me. Because he loves me."

Cleo half-screamed in frustration. Why wouldn't her sister just leave?

Nefera laughed. But inside of her, there was panic. She had to feel superior! NOW! "I will call daddy and tell him what you did to me!" With these words, she left the room. But it was sure she would return. And maybe not alone.

Cleo called after her sister as she left "But I didn't ** _do_** anything!"

Now Cleo was worried. If Nefera could convince their father that something had happened, especially after last night's fiasco, then he was sure to do something to extend her punishment. And it wasn't like she could go after her, either; not after what her dad had already said about Cleo leaving her room.

With her sister now out of the way at least, Cleo rushed around the room, pulling together her school books from the past year - all that remained of anything resembling revision material - and tried her hardest to remember what it was that Ghoulia had planned for her to work on today.

Even if Nefera was able to manipulate her father's view of her, it would look far better for him to walk in and find her studying. She tried her very best to look busy, and more importantly, look innocent.


	6. Of Breaking Up with Deuce

About a minute later, the door of Cleo's room opened again. This time, it was Ramses who came in. All alone. Cleo was surprised that, this time, he was not yelling. Ramses' voice was as dark as always.

"Daughter." A long break. "What is your problem?" Ramses seemed to be done–mentally.

Cleo winced a little internally - what had Nefera told him this time?

"No problem, Daddy. I'm just studying, see?" she held up her current book to show him, with a slight bit of an awkward laugh. Hissette sensed the tension in the room and slithered off to hide in one of Cleo's shoes. "What brings you in daddy?"

Ramses had a grim look on his face. As usual, he was not showing any emotions.

"Don't lie to me again, Cleo. What went wrong with you? First, I was angry, now I am disappointed. You are not learning, you are insulting your sister. I thought you were a good girl, Cleo. But you are not. It is your sister who gives me hope. Hope for this family and its future. I do not know if you are like this because I was not strict enough or because you spent too much time with all these commoners you know from school. I made a mistake with not letting someone teach you here, at home. This school does not do you good, nor do your friends. Let alone, that snakey-haired boy!

Your sister was an excellent student and never dared to disappoint me. Never. Why can't you be more like your sister, Cleo, why?"

Cleo was pained by her father's words. When she first started at Monster High, she had tried her best to act just like her sister, and all it had done for her was drive away her fearsquad and all of her friends. She was so much happier with her unlife now that she was acting more like herself, but now it was interfering with her family life instead.

"Daddy, I promise you my grades have nothing to do with the people I've been spending time with. I know I did badly - I'm disappointed in myself! Really, it was all my own fault. I didn't study because I didn't think it was important, and I take full responsibility for that."

She closed her book and sighed. No point in trying to continue the facade now. "You haven't done anything wrong by me, daddy. You're a good father, and a strong leader…"

And now for plan C: "… so I know you'll make the right decision when I ask you - can I have the new WiFi password? I know you had it changed to make sure I'd be studying instead of talking to my friends, but the internet really is an excellent study resource." she looked at him hopefully.

Asking this was a mistake Cleo should not have made. Her father began to yell at her, "Are you not listening to me?! If you can't behave, I will let my people teach you at home! People like you have no need to go to school. You do not want to learn, you want to continue with wasting your time on things that are less than important. I am angry when your sister asks me things like 'Is Cleo adopted?'. But now I am really wondering about this question too."

Silence.

"Do you think it is funny to lie to me without any feeling of shame?!"

Cleo was shocked. "I'm not lying, Daddy! Honestly, only studying sites, and I wouldn't argue with having full supervision or having my history checked." She looked up at him, seeing the seriousness in his eyes and how the anger was apparent on his face even when concealed in bandages. "… Or we can just forget the WiFi." she looked back down. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

Ramses stopped yelling. "It is not me who needs an excuse now."

Nefera came in, looking in Cleo's eyes, having a GIANT smirk on her face.

Cleo looked at her father in disbelief.

"You want me to… apologise? To Nefera? What for?"

"What for?! Cleo, tell me, did you lose all your respect while being with this boy?!"

What, in Ra's name, did Nefera tell him?

"No, Daddy, I just… I don't know what you want me to apologise to Nefera for. Right now. In specific."

All these questions made Ramses even angrier. "I am your father and when I tell you something, you will do it! Without any asking! Is that too hard to understand?! Now give your sister an apology! Insults are forbidden in my household!"

Cleo took a deep breath and tried her very hardest not to speak through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry for _insulting_ you, _Nefera_."

Nefera smirked. "What did you say? I didn't hear you." She tried her hardest not to laugh.

Cleo rolled her eyes and made a noise of frustration. "I'm _SORRY_ , Nefera."

Nefera had to enjoy this situation as much as she could. "And what are you sorry for?" Her smirk still didn't disappear.

"For insulting, and/or offending you." _'and whatever else it is you fashioned up to tell daddy'_ , she thought.

Nefera sighed. "It is hard for me to believe you after what you did to me. But as your loving older sister, I won't be upset any longer. I forgive you."

Cleo cast her eyes over to her father to see if he was actually buying this act. He seemed to be, which she couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing, but he also seemed to still be looking at her expectantly, so she sighed and continued. "Thank you, you are very generous."

"Yes, I know," Nefera said, still smirking, but searching for another fight. "Me and Daddy are hoping for you to break up with your boyfriend now. He does not deserve you."

Cleo looked very shocked. "B- break up with Deuce? Right now?"

Their father continued the conversation. He wanted to make sure that this was a serious topic and not just something Nefera made up.

"What have you been expecting after the trouble you had made us? A party? I had been saying it for long, Cleo. Let that boy go."

"I'm sorry, Daddy, but I have no way of contacting him right now. Deuce is with his family in Greece, and I don't have my iCoffin." She knew that wouldn't stop this from happening, but she hoped she might at least be able to buy some time before the imminent conversation with her boyfriend.

"You can have mine," Nefera and her fakest fake smile answered only one second later.

Cleo winced. She thought about using the "but I don't know his number" card just so that a servant would have to go and fetch her confiscated iCoffin, but she had the feeling that her father would see through the charade and berate her for stalling.

She begrudgingly held out her hand to accept her sister's phone. "Do you want him on speaker?"

Nefera smirked as she gave Cleo her iCoffin. "Yessssssss!"

Ramses was standing next to Nefera, waiting for Cleo to call Deuce and finally break up with him. His businesses were waiting and he wouldn't allow himself to waste too much time on things that had nothing to do with his work.

Cleo dialed Deuce's number and pressed the 'speaker phone' icon. After a short while of ringing, he answered, "Yeah Dude?" Excellent start.

"Hi Deuce" Cleo answered rather meekly.

"Oh hey, Cleo, babe! It didn't come up as your number - you get a new iCoffin?"

Cleo took a deep breath before blurting out "I'm breaking up with you." There was no use in engaging in Deuce's small talk. Hearing his voice would only make it harder.

"Wait… That's what you called to tell me?"

"Yes. That's all. Goodbye, Deuce."

"Hold up Cleo, you can't just break up with me and then hang up!"

"Well, that's what I'm doing."

Deuce didn't respond straight away, but Cleo still didn't end the call just yet either.

"Your family are listening, aren't they Cleo?"

She looked over at them. Both shook their heads disapprovingly.

"No. It's just me." She knew that he would know she was lying, but she said it anyway. "I'm hanging up now."

"Fine, go ahead."

"Oh, I will. Right now." pause. "Bye."

"Yeah, bye."

Deuce sounded about ready to hang up the phone himself, so she did it first so as not to reflect badly on herself while her father was watching and handed the phone back to her sister. Hopefully Deuce would forgive her.


	7. Of the Last Great Roman-Persian War

Nefera was a little bit shocked that Cleo REALLY just broke up with Deuce! Honestly, she did not expect her to. But Nefera tried not to let her family see her feelings, and took her phone back.

Ramses seemed to be fine. "Finally! Now you will learn for school, Cleo, will you?"

That meant 'Cleo, you will learn for school because I told you so. I just ask you if you're okay with it because I don't want to appear so strict.'

"When you don't understand something or need help, you can always ask your sister. I am sure she would love to help you."

"Of course I would, daddy!"

"Fine, my daughters. If you need me, I am downstairs, taking care of my businesses."

A minute later, the two sisters were alone in Cleo's room.

Cleo just gave her dad a nod of agreement and reopened the book that was still balanced on her lap, completely ignoring her sister's existence.

She must have re-read the same passage at least fifteen times before she gave up altogether and throwing herself backwards to lie on the bed. She hated this.

"What did you tell me about true love again, little sister?" Nefera laughed. She was best at telling funny jokes.

Cleo folded both arms across her face. "Obviously royalty doesn't get that sort of luxury. Not even in _this_ century."

She knew she was going to have to sit up and continue studying again soon enough, especially with her sister watching, but for now she was content to just lie there.

Nefera laughed again. "What a stupid comment. There is no true love, of course. And if you still believe in that, you are way stupider than I thought."

Again, a laughter. Nefera was happy. "Making you look bad is so easy, little sister!"

The crown princess made herself sit next to Cleo on her bed, and made her baby-voice.

"You are pretty dumb, aren't you?" She laughed again. Talking to Cleo like she was stupid was so funny because Cleo actually WAS stupid!

Cleo gave her sister an incredulous look. "It's a good thing daddy said you have to tutor me then, oh wise and intelligent older sister. Shall we get started then? I wouldn't want to further embarrass you with my stupidity"

Nefera made a critical face and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, you can start. If you didn't forget how to read a text." She looked in her sister's eyes and made a fake smile to hide her own insecurities. Hopefully the task was nothing too difficult…

Cleo thought about choosing one of her better subject just to show Nefera up, but then, would that just upset her and land Cleo in more trouble? And did she really want to be that kind of person anyway, and end up just like her sister? It had never worked for her at school in the past.

So she decided to chose subject that they might actually have some common ground in. Who knows, some kind of new relationship could sprout from it… yeah, right.

She rifled through her text books, eventually coming across the one she needed. "Well, I need to work on my hiss-tory, _apparently_." She flicked through the book for a few pages and then tutted, pointing at one particular section "Can you believe this Nefera? Now, I don't know about you, but this is _not_ how I remember the last great Roman-Persian war."

Nefera took a look at the page in the book, not undersanding anything. "Ah, these people don't know anything! That's, of course, not how it happened! I can't believe the stupidity of some monsters! It's a shame, really!"

"Exactly my point. Now, do you really think its fair that I was only marked a C in this subject, because some monster who obviously wasn't actually there decided to write a text book? I think I know at least something about the conquering on Egypt, thank you very much." She stopped speaking abruptly and returned to quietly reading the text, feeling that she may be treading too close to similar, rather sore subjects.

"A C? Why are you wondering? The teachers know about your stupidity." Nefera laughed. She really wondered why she was the only one laughing at her jokes. It must be because nobody, except her, had any taste or humour.

Cleo glanced up at her sister for her comment, and shook her head, dismissing it entirely. Her sister could say she was stupid all she wanted, she knew she just needed to put more effort into revising. So much for connecting over old memories, though.

Cleo opened her (regretfully empty) notebook, and jotted down a few things that she remembered Ghoulia having told her to work on. She really did miss her ghoul, all of this would be so much easier with her as a mentor.

Cleo actually tried to focus on her work but Nefera's comments made that impossible…

"Ugh! How long do you need?! It is extremely exhausting to work with you! Daddy told me to help you when you have a question, but how could I know that you are too dumb to figure some things out on your own?! You are wasting too much of my precious time! Argh! I hate you! Your stupidity is a serious proof that you are adopted!"

Considering the fact that she hadn't asked any questions because she hadn't felt the _need_ to, Cleo was rather insulted.

Closing her book with a loud _slap_ and directed her attention back towards her sister. "Actually, I do have a question for you, _Nefera…_ " she considered several different endings to that sentence, including ' _why are you so self-centered?_ ', ' _why do you even bother pretending to help when you're obviously further behind on the curriculum than I am?_ ', ' _how can daddy not understand how wrong he is about you?_ ' and ' _how does your head fit through the door when it is so obviously over-inflated with your enormous ego?_ ', before somehow finally settling on "I have some Fashion 101 work that needs doing. Would you model some designs for me?"

"Model? Of course I would! I am world-famous because of my flawless modeling! There is no one better you could have asked for this!  
Why are we still here?! Show me the designs! Come on, come on!"

"Okay!" Cleo rummaged through her school bag to find her Fashion 101 portfolio. "Now, don't be fooled by my overall F in Home Ick. These initial design pieces were A+ material, plus they have the Clawdeen Wolf seal of approval."

She handed her sister several pages of her artwork - intricate and delicate egyptian patterns adorning several different dress concepts. A lot of work had obviously gone into the designs, more so on the accompanying jewellery and other accessories, yes, but the outfits themselves were well designed none the less.

"The only problem is… I don't know how to sew."

Nefera looked from the designs to her sister. "You stupid idiot!"

"I've never _had_ to before! Do _you_ know how to sew?"

"What a stupid question! Of course not! I am going to be Queen! Queens do NOT sew! Their sisters do it for them."

Again, Nefera was the only one laughing at her joke.

Cleo looked angrily at her sister, obviously not finding the joke funny.

"So what do we do now then? Ask the _servants_?"

Nefera turned to one of their servants. He walked towards the two princesses, waiting for his order. "Sew the designs here! And don't dare to make a mistake or take too much time! If you dare to disappoint me, I will call daddy and make him fire you! Understood?!"

The servant nodded and started to sew. He was not the only one afraid of Nefera; there were some servants too scared to take her orders.

"Well, I did mean to teach me how to sew for class, but this works too." Cleo shrugged and leaned back in her seat. Ah well, at least her sister was _somewhat_ helping her to get an A.

Ramses allowed himself a little break. His daughters had been quiet lately and he wanted to check if they did what they were supposed to do: learn. He walked up the steps and came into Cleo's room. He found both of his daughters relaxing while there was a servant sewing. "What is going on here?!"

Cleo sat back up "Oh, uh, learning, Daddy. I didn't know how to sew, so I'm… watching… and learning! I have some designs for Fashion 101 that Nefera said she would model to show you, so that you would know I'm improving in Home Ick." She quickly grabbed the design that the poor servant had been working on creating. "See? Do you like it?"

"Cleo! You won't get an A in Home Ick for designing stupid clothes! I told you to learn the things you need! Sewing, for example! I know, I know. It is nothing royalty does. But still, it is something you need to learn to get an A; something to make me proud. Don't you want to make me proud, Cleo? It is not the servant that needs to learn sewing, it is you who needs to!"

Nefera immediately answered him. "That's exactly what I told her, daddy! But Cleo said she didn't care and the servants would be there anyway! She is completely out of control, father!"

Cleo looked at Nefera in utter shock and anger. "Daddy, that completely isn't true! Nefera asked the servant to sew the designs for me!" so much for her sister helping out.

"Besides, if I'm going to have to learn to sew, I need to watch someone else do it and have it explained to take notes and learn. This is necessary experience for me." she smiled sweetly.

Ramses sighed. He was annoyed, but already used to such a situation.

"Cleo, you will learn how to sew, I do no longer care how. Just learn it! I will give you two hours. When the time is over, you will come downstairs and sew something on your own to show me what you've learned. I expect absolute perfection."

Nefera, who never learned to sew and just cheated herself through everything in life, was not pleased by her father's reaction. Why couldn't he just punish Cleo?! Was that too much to ask for?!

Ramses continued, "Nefera, you will come with me. I am sure your sister is able to learn sewing without your help."

Cleo was left alone in her room with the servant that Nefera had previously demanded sew all of her designs. Was she really expected to ask the servants for _help_? To _learn_ something from them?

There was a terribly awkward silence, before finally: "Sooo… can you teach me?"


	8. Of Failed Fashion Shows

Nefera spent her time in her room, with having several servants around her. She sat in front of her mirror, brushing her hair. But the servants were there for a reason: Nefera demanded them to tell her how beautiful, talented and intelligent she was. It was going like this:

A servant told her a compliment, Nefera said 'I know.', another servant told her a different compliment, she said 'I know.' again. If a servant dared to say a compliment twice, Nefera was not afraid of yelling at him and pointing out his stupidity.

The game was enjoyable and funny (…at least for Nefera) and the two hours passed quickly. Nefera made the servants stop and went down the stairs. She, of course, wanted to be there when Cleo was failing.

But when she entered the room, there was no Cleo. Ramses lost himself in his work again, without looking at the time.

A minute later, Nefera came into Cleo's room, made a fake smile and said the sentence "The time is over, you little baby" in a charming way.

Cleo looked up from the material she had been practicing on - had it really been 2 hours already? She didn't feel ready for this just yet. There were so many different seams to learn for different materials and clothing styles… she just hoped that she could pull it off.

The servant who had been helping her gathered up all of the necessary items and followed Cleo out of the room to go and meet with her father. In all honesty, the experience of talking to her servants hadn't been entirely unpleasant, and she had actually somewhat gotten to know them. It reminded her of her experience with starting at Monster High, how she had started out feeling that she was too far above anyone else to socialize, and now she had so many friends that she would regret never having gotten to know. She hoped that this bond could work in her favor - maybe she could get some subtle hints on what needed doing while she worked on the finished piece.

When his daughters and the servant arrived in the room Ramses worked in, he immediately knew what was up.

Ramses didn't understand anything from sewing, but wanted Cleo to be perfect at it, of course. Just like Nefera was. "I hope you did not waste your time, Cleo. I will not be pleased to see you failing. Please, try your best, daughter. You are a de Nile. Do not forget that."

Nefera took place next to her father, who was, as always, sitting on his throne. She smirked at Cleo, making her remember the insecurities she felt towards her father and the need to please him.

"Of course, Daddy. I'm sure you'll be impressed."

Cleo started working on her project. She was somewhat hopeful that her father would continue with his work instead of watch her for the entire time, content that she was working alone since he could still see her in the room with him in his peripheral vision. She tried to not look up and see what he was doing, focusing on her work instead. It was easier to do if she imagined that he wasn't scrutinizing every movement she made.

The dress took a while to create, and there were some mistakes in the stitching here and there, which she tried to cover up and make sure that they wouldn't be visible on the outside of the dress, so hopefully they wouldn't notice that the underneath was a little messy and her design would still be passable.

The finished item was a little different from her initial design works, since parts had needed changing due to being too ambitious for her skill level, and others her servant had helped to modify for Nefera's thinner body shape, since the original design had been meant for her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Cleo held up her dress to present. "Nefera, would you care to try it on?"

A perfect question to point out Cleo's mistakes. "Is THAT what you want me to wear? It is less than ugly. But don't worry, little sis, I will try my best to make it look good." Nefera took the dress and disappeared in the bathroom.

She would have loved to say different things about the dress to hurt Cleo even more, but their father was there and Nefera did not want to risk anything.

Cleo honestly didn't know if her sister was just saying that to spite her, or if the dress was honestly bad. She had tried, yes, but obviously she wasn't cut out for this whole 'making clothing' thing. She would leave that to Clawdeen in future, and focus on her passion for jewellery instead.

She waited patiently with their father for Nefera to return. Hopefully the dress would look at good being worn as Cleo hoped it would.

Nefera came in. She was walking like she was on the runway and made thousands of model poses. She was overreacting again, seeing this as one of her big shows.

Cleo clapped for her sister, encouraging her fantasy of being back on the runway.

Whatever her family thought of the design, Cleo was impressed with herself for making something that not only fit well, but also stayed together…

Cleo was actually really proud and saw how her sister enjoyed the applause. Everything seemed to be perfect, and Ramses didn't look upset at all. He wanted to speak before a shocked Nefera interrupted him. "Father! The… The dress is ripped!"

Cleo and Ramses were both shocked. But not Nefera. She ripped the dress, when she still had the time to. It was ugly anyway.

Cleo gasped and ran to check the dress. Sure enough, there was a tear in the seam down one side. "No! I made sure everything was sewn together perfectly!" She looked to her sister, and then her father in panic. "I can fix this, just let me get some thread, I'll mend it."

Nefera became from shocked to serious, almost angry. "No. The dress is destroyed! The rip is extremely big, why can't you just admit that you have no talent in sewing?!"

"And how am I supposed to learn from my mistakes if you won't even let me see where I went wrong?"

Cleo turned her attention to her father "Please, Daddy, tell Nefera to let me fix it! I can do this, I _know_ I can."

"You can, daughter. Show me what you've learned."

Ramses was strict, yes. But he was also fair. It was Cleo's chance to show him what she did in these two hours!

But Nefera was shocked, of course. Didn't her father love her?! Why did he treat her like this?! That was NOT what she deserved for being a good girl and growing up after his expections since early childhood!

Cleo looked smugly up at her sister. "Okay then Nefera, should I follow you?"

"I can change my clothes without your help, you little baby," Nefera answered angrily as she marched out of the room. That was not a good sign for Cleo, because an angry Nefera clearly couldn't mean ANYTHING good.

Cleo stood with her father as she waited for Nefera to return, mentally going over everything that she had done while working on her project, wondering what could have happened to make the dress fall apart so easily.

Had she used the wrong stitch for the seam? Had she not tied the stitching off properly? Had she measured her fabric wrong?

Perhaps it seemed trivial, considering this was her first real attempt, but she really didn't want to disappoint her father, especially not after the last two days.

Some minutes later, Nefera came back, holding the dress. "Here, you can have your disappointment back," she said to her sister as she gave her the dress. When Cleo looked at it, she saw that the rip was larger than before. "This quality is really less than common," Nefera said while crossing her arms.

Cleo studied every inch of the fabric, measured and re-measured, and still couldn't see any real reason for the tear. The thread seemed to have just… snapped. It was all definitely made to Nefera's size, though, so either there was something wrong with the thread itself, the seam had been forced apart, or Nefera had put on weight. Cleo smiled inwardly to herself at the third option, but it seemed unlikely.

She sewed back over the broken section - twice, for good measure. "I take it you don't need me to help you try this back on?"

Nefera was annoyed. First, trying on the dress and getting applause was enjoyable. But now?! Ugh! She would have loved to just tell her sister that the dress was as needless as the ability to sew, but that wouldn't have been someting their father would have liked to hear.

Without commenting, Nefera took the dress, went to the bathroom and tried it on again.

When she entered the room Cleo and Ramses had been waiting in, the tear Cleo had over-sewed wasn't ripped at all. But another part of the dress had a tiny tear in it. Of course, something Nefera had to point out. She was waiting for her father to become impatient and angry, but sadly, he seemed to be patient with his youngest daughter this time. What a shame!

Nefera wouldn't have a problem with ripping the dress a third time but she really started to miss the compliment-game she used to play with her servants every week. Why couldn't her family hurry up?! Did she have to manipulate them even more?! Argh! Nefera was sure: being her was even more than exhausting.

Cleo sighed deeply, ready to admit failure rather than attempt to fix the dress a second time and risk further annoying her sister.

She gathered up what was left of her sewing materials without looking up at her father. "I'll go back to my room."

Her father sighed before he put his attention into his work again.

Ahhhhhhhh~ what an enjoyable thing for Nefera to see. Finally she could feel refreshed and happy again. All this dressing stress was way too much for her. It was stressful and it could have caused her to faint again. Luckily, it was over now.

Why actually was nobody thinking and taking care of her?! Didn't they have a heart?! Pah! It was a dangerous situation for Nefera and she could have died!

The view of seeing the little failure that was born into this family (a.k.a. Cleo) being sad and going to her room, was also quite amusing for Nefera to see.

What a loser Cleo was. Nefera was sure; she would never fall as deep as her little sister.

On the long walk back to her room, Cleo resolved that, no, her first attempt at sewing hadn't worked, but it _was_ only her first attempt. She decided that as part of her studying routine, she would complete a piece of sewing practice each day, so that she could make _herself_ a new outfit by the end of summer!

After all, even if she wasn't going to be allowed out to the Maul any time soon, that was no reason to not return to school in style.

Now, if she could just remember the schedule Ghoulia had worked out for her, then everything would be back on track.


	9. Of 8pm Curfews

It wasn't long until Nefera came into Cleo's room. Cleo was still a bit sad about all these mistakes that had happened. Nefera smirked when she sat down next to her sister on the big queen size bed. Cleo ignored her sister while she was tying to remember the plan she and Ghoulia had for her. Nefera suddenly hugged her sister tightly and whispered something in her ear. It sounded mysterious but kinda happy and friendly. "You know what, little sister?" Nefera seemed excited, she was waiting for an answer.

Cleo sat blinking in shock at being hugged by her sister, having not even realized she was in the room. It was odd as well how excited she sounded, like they were about to swap some kind of ghouly secret at a creepover. "What?" She turned to face her older sister, finding herself smiling as well.

Nefera enjoyed Cleo's reaction, her once so excited smile became a deep smirk. Nefera was coming closer to her sister, putting her hand on Cleo's shoulder. She said happily, "I ripped your dress two times just to embarrass you in front of Daddy and let him see what a loser you are!"

Suddenly, the only one laughing was Nefera.

The smile completely disappeared from Cleo's face. Honestly, she could have punched Nefera at that moment, but de Nile's don't engage in fist fights - especially not with other de Nile's.

It all made so much sense now.

Cleo pulled away from the hug, standing abruptly from the bed and stomping her foot in rage. "Nefera! Why do you always have to try and ruin everything for me!"

She turned her back to her sister, folding her arms. Oh she was sooo going to make that outfit now, and show her sister exactly what she was capable of _when_ she _wasn't ruining everything_.

Nefera laughed even more. Her face became red and the tears were almost coming out of her eyes. But Nefera wouldn't be a true de Nile if she didn't know how to control herself. She stopped laughing, stood up and hugged her sister again. Nefera started making her baby-voice, with which she loved to annoy Cleo with. She grabbed her sister's cheeks. "Aw, are you a little baby?" Nefera laughed again.

Cleo batted her sisters hand away. "It's getting late, Nefera. I'd like to get some rest, I have a lot to catch up on tomorrow."

"Oh, really? How interesting!" Nefera took place on Cleo's bed again. She grabbed her little sister's diary, opened it and took a look at the last page. "You should really update your dairy about the break-up with Deuce. You didn't use it since about two weeks, did you, little sister? Why actually not? I need something to read when I'm bored!" She laughed again.

It was not a secret that Nefera checked up on Cleo's diary when she was bored… And, really, Nefera was bored often. It was also pretty obvious that Nefera had no problem with spending the whole night with her little sister…

She would rather die than admit it, but Nefera's career as a 'world-famous supermodel' failed and she didn't have anything to do since months. She could actually spend the whole year on the couch. It wouldn't matter anyway.

Cleo sat on the bed with her sister and put out a hand to take her diary. It had become obvious that Nefera wasn't going to allow her younger sister to get any sleep unless she at least made a new diary entry to amuse her.

Taking a pen from her nightstand, Cleo began to write, sitting so that her sister would be able to read over her shoulder.

 _Sixth Month 29th Day,_

 _I am fully aware that I have not been keeping these records up-to-date recently, and that is simply because there has been nothing of any real interest to update them with._

 _In my last entry, I mentioned how I had received my end-of-year grades, and that due to my own decision not to study for some of my exams, they had been less than perfect. Needless to say, I have shown my father now and he was far from impressed. He was also far from lenient, which is why I find myself in my current position._

 _I am currently being held captive in my rooms, being forced to study for the entirety of the summer vacation. My sister, as my self-appointed prison guard, has been making sure that I live out my full punishment with no chance of being let out early for good behavior. I have had all contact with the outside world severed - no iCoffin, no WiFi, no America's Next Top Monster, and now also no Deuce._

 _He should be returning from Greece soon enough, but that isn't the reason. Daddy has had me break up with him. Again. I don't know how long for this time. Since I know he also has plans to have me dis-enrolled from Monster High, I would assume a while…_

Nefera shook her head. "Cleo, cleo…" She grabbed the diary and the pen her sister had been holding and made up her own entry.

 _29 June_  
 _Me and that loser I had been together with, finally broke up. I dumped him because of his endless ugliness and stupidity. But that's not the only news I have. I failed in school because I am not smart enough to remember how to read a book. That makes sense because I am nothing special. I am not a de Nile because I was adopted as a baby. I don't want anyone to know what a loser I am, so I will just keep on acting like I was really a de Nile. My father keeps me at home and does not allow me to go out. I would love to learn more from my highly intelligent sister Nefera, but sadly, she said that she won't help me because she is too good for me. Speaking of Nefera, she looked beautiful today, just as always. My sister is made out of pure flawlessness and I adore her in every single way; just like the rest of the world does. My sister is god-like. Better than anyone will ever be._

Cleo took back her diary, complete now with two different versions of events. So this was how her night was going to go, was it?

 _Sixth Month 29th Day, continued_

 _Do you see what I have to put up with? My "Oh so perfect and wonderful sister", who can't even be mature and professional enough as a model to try on a new design piece without ripping the seams just for the fun of it._

 _And now, despite constantly telling me that I'm not worth her time, she insists on wasting both of our unlives by constantly pestering me and NOT LEAVING MY ROOM. Such as now, for instance._

 _What is wrong with her own chambers I will never know. Maybe she's just lonely._

Nefera was laying on her belly, playing with her hair. "Why are you still writing in that stupid diary of yours?! Let's do something that does not waste our time. Let's talk about me."

Cleo finished off her entry: ' _definitely_ lonely.'

Setting down her diary and pen, Cleo laid down, crossing her legs at the ankle and raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Don't you have servants for that?"

"Actually, yes." She got up and walked towards the door. "I am just gonna go to daddy and tell him that you're still awake even if it's almost midnight…"

Nefera obviously wanted Cleo to stop her. But she also wouldn't have a problem with telling Ramses about Cleo and continue on playing her 'compliment game' with the servants. It was Cleo's choice now.

"Well I wouldn't be if you _weren't keeping me awake!_ " She sighed in frustration. Cleo really didn't want to have to play the compliment game with her sister and be forced to stay up any longer. She could stand having her father come in and tell her that she needed to get more rest to help her better absorb her studies - it was the next item on her 'to do' list anyway.

With Nefera out of the room fetching their father, Cleo unwrapped herself from that day's ensemble and dressed herself for bed.

She just finished when her father came in. He had been interrupted from his work and the things Nefera told him, didn't make him feel any better. He was yelling angrily, just as always.

"CLEO! Why are you still awake?! Your sister told you to go to bed! You aren't allowed to stay up longer than 8 pm! I don't care if it is summer or not, go to bed before I lose my temper!"

And that's what happens when Nefera doesn't get her narcissistic supply.

Cleo decided not to point out to her father that it had already been past 8pm by the time she had returned to her room from sewing, and simply nodded. "Already on my way to bed, Daddy. I completely understand, I'm definitely going to need plenty of beauty sleep this summer to help me with my concentration. So… I'll see you at breakfast?"

"I do not think so. A servant will bring you some breakfast up to your room. Since you are so good at doing multiple things at the same time, you probably won't have a problem with eating AND learning! You already stressed and disappointed me and your sister enough! Go to sleep now."

Cleo hung her head in shame. "Yes, Daddy."

She climbed into bed and lifted the handle on her pyramid night light so that its soft glow illuminated the room even after her father had turned off the main lights on his way out.


	10. Of Family Bonding

Over breakfast the next morning, Cleo began piecing together the schedule that she was supposed to have been working on. She had had to make some revisions, due to lost time and such, but the work plan she had now looked pretty good if she did say so herself.

The main aim now had become to make sure that her father understood that she was most definitely studying, _WITHOUT_ Nefera interfering with her notes. Cleo decided to make it a routine that she would take her day's work each afternoon to personally present to her father, and then return to her room and work on her outfit for the new scaremester until the newly appointed 8pm curfew. She had even found a nice little hidden spot in her wardrobe to keep her work in progress.

And if her sister happened to arrive and 'ask' to play the compliment game, then hopefully Cleo could prove her father right about her ability to multi-task, and still manage to study while reeling off strings of false admiration.

For Nefera, the day actually started pretty well. She had been eating breakfast with her father, looking as fabulous as always and showing him her love, respect and admiration.

But after being sucked up to for so long, Ramses actually told Nefera that he made a new appointment with a model agency. Nefera had to go there next week and show them her talents and skills. This time, Ramses surely won't accept the I-felt-horror-ible-and-couldn't-attend excuse.

After breakfast, Nefera felt really stressed. How could her father do this to her?! The princess walked upstairs, looking for Cleo's room. She needed someone to let out her anger on. And this time, it was Cleo. It was obviously Cleo's fault that Nefera's luck had left her. And now, she had to pay for it.

Nefera slammed the door open. "You little failure!" She was yelling at Cleo, who had no idea what was happening.

Cleo looked up from her text book, shocked by Nefera's sudden outburst. When had she even entered the room?

"Uhmm… okay? I'm guessing breakfast with Daddy didn't go very well this morning?" Cleo imagined that perhaps her sister had asked for some kind of increase to her allowance, or an extra couple of hundred servants, and been denied.

"Be quiet! You don't know anything! You are a mistake nobody wanted! Argh! I hate you!" Why was Cleo even born?! Every single problem Nefera had was Cleo's fault anyway!

Nefera pushed Cleo away, grabbed her text book and smashed it on the ground. "YOU LITTLE FAILURE!" she repeated. "Don't call my father 'Daddy'! He's MY Daddy, not yours!"

She pushed her sister again. "Everything went amazing! Because Daddy loves me! Again, he said how much he prefers me over you and how much you were bothering him! Why don't you run away from home and meet your stupid boyfriend in Greece?! He's the only person that can stand you anyway! Nobody needs you here!"

Nefera got closer to her sister and grabbed her arms. Her voice became quieter and darker. "Nobody. Loves. You."

In some ways, Cleo hoped that the loud 'smack' of the book hitting her floor might prompt for some of the servants to take notice of what was going on in the room. In other ways, Cleo hoped that no one came in, since she was sure that Nefera would try to switch things around and pin it all on her. She was truly stuck between the proverbial 'Scylla and Charybdis'.

Cleo winced as her older sister grabbed hold of her. "Nefera, let go, you're hurting me."

"Awwww, do I hurt you, little sister?" She made a fake sad face and grabbed her sister harder. "Too bad!" She pushed Cleo away.

Next, she walked towards the desk and took a look at the notes Cleo had made. "Hm. These are actually quite good. Too bad you'll never see them again," Nefera said as she took the notes with making a fake smile.

She walked towards her little sister and grabbed hold of her one last time. Her voice became quieter… "We don't want anything bad to happen to Hissette, Deuce or your happy, little life, do we, little sister?" …and louder again. "SO DON'T DARE TO DESTROY MY DAY AGAIN OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!"

She angrily pushed her little sister away and slammed the door as she left the room. And there, Cleo stood again. No notes, no hope, no nothing.

Cleo checked herself in the mirror to make sure that their little tussle hadn't disturbed her hair or makeup and rubbed her arms where Nefera had grabbed them… there were going to be bruises there soon enough, she was sure of it.

Cleo decided that now might be a good time to visit her father. Not to tell him what had happened, Ra forbid if Nefera found out that Cleo was trying to make their father think less of her. No, she would only bring it up if he asked. She just wanted to be able to sit in his office and do her studying there. Maybe she might actually accomplish something without having it inter-feared with, because she definitely wasn't sitting here a moment longer, repeating herself indefinitely while all of her revision went to waste.

Grabbing up a few textbooks, Cleo poked her head out of the door to make sure that Nefera had well and truly left the vicinity, and made her way quietly down the halls.

Making it to her father's work room, Cleo tucked the books under one arm and tried to feign some amount of confidence as she knocked on the door.

Argh, Ramses really loved his daughters more than anything, but did they REALLY always have to interrupt him from his work?! The Pharaoh sighed.

Hopefully the person in front of the door was not Nefera who wanted to give him compliments again. As a de Nile, Ramses, of course, liked being adored, but after the tons of compliments his oldest daughter had already given him, he really had enough of it. "Who's there?" he asked in a strict voice.

Cleo opened the door and stepped into her father's work space. "Daddy, I was wondering, can I sit in here to study? _I know, I know,_ you said for me to stay in my room, but I was just thinking that if I'm in here with you, then you can be absolutely sure of the work I'm doing. I thought it was a truly regal idea to do what we did yesterday and have me work in front of you to show what I'd been learning, it really makes sure you know exactly how well my progress is going, and you don't have to worry that I'm getting sidetracked!"

She held up the several volumes that she had brought with her "I've already brought all of the books that I need for today, and I'll be very, very quiet and won't disturb you or keep you from doing your _very_ important business… So can I stay in here?"

Cleo stood hopefully waiting for the answer. This was about more than proving to her father that she had been working, despite all of Nefera's attempts to hide it. After this morning's events, Cleo felt far safer having her father present.

Ramses felt proud. Ahhhh~ He did such a great job with raising his daughters.

"That is a good idea, Cleo. You already broke up with your ex-boyfriend and won't spend any more time with these common friends of yours. So, all the obstacles are gone and you have all the time you need for school."

He offered his daughter a seat in front of him. "Sit down, daughter. You are allowed to start learning now."

Ramses had no idea what had happened just a minute ago. But he would, of course, never think that his eldest daughter would hurt or abuse his youngest. That would truly be a shame. And since the de Nile family was flawless, mistakes were not tolerated and shames did not happen.

Ramses was sure, Nefera was a good sister (as well as daughter) and would never make anyone feel bad. She was, well… flawless. Just like Ramses raised her to be… or forced… whatever. He was the best parent anyway.

Cleo stepped further into the room and took her seat with a small smile of pride at accomplishing her small goal. What her father had said about her not seeing her friends again had worried her though - maybe he really was thinking about removing her from Monster High. She would have to find a way to remedy that, but first she would have to convince him that she was working hard and achieving her grades.

Taking out a pen and notebook, Cleo began work on her first subject for the day, ge-ogre-aphy. She was doing a supernatural section on the subject, and it had begun talking about rivers; main aspects and attributes of different areas along the course of the river, different environmental reasons for the shape of the river, and pros and cons of creating settlements along the banks (and the river bed). She was about to begin a draft for an essay on the subject of riverside settlements using, of course, the Nile and its newly built dam, for a case study.

Finally, things were going well again.

The room went as silent as a tomb when Cleo and her father did their work. That silence did not last long though. After some minutes, Nefera entered the room.

She had actually wanted to talk about the appointment with the agency again. But seeing the little failure (a.k.a. Cleo) sitting with her father, made the crown princess angry. Extremely angry.

Why couldn't Cleo just leave her father alone?! He didn't like her anyway! Oh, and one thing was clear: If Cleo was there to tell their father what just had happened, Nefera wouldn't be afraid to make her sister regret it. As fast and hard as she could.

Nefera would just have liked to punch her sister and tell her to leave. But the fact that Ramses was sitting right in front of Cleo, made this impossible. Instead of freaking out, Nefera quietly asked them a question.

"What are you doing?" Her voice sounded a bit surprised, but still polite and charming.

Cleo looked up, startled by her sister. "Oh, um, studying." She looked over at her father briefly, and then back to Nefera. "I'm writing a list of arguments for and against the dam on the Nile. You know they still hold the _Wafaa El-Nil_ flood festival in Egypt, even though the river doesn't flood there anymore? And all of the farmers have to use fertilizers on their crops, because there's no natural silt deposit! So the productivity of the fields goes down, and the cost of everything goes up. Talk about counter-productive. It's insanity, really it is."

Cleo saw the look of displeasure Nefera was giving her and stopped her rant, looking away, back at her books. "Of course you knew that. You already took the class."

Nefera smirked. "Yes, I did," she answered, not even knowing, let alone, CARING about anything that didn't have anything to do with her own self.

"What is the matter, daughter?" Ramses asked as stern as always.

The last thing Nefera wanted to do now was talking about something she was not ready to attend. She took a breath, thinking about his question for a second.

She came over and pet Cleo's head. "I just thought that Cleo surely needed some help with her work, father." She turned to her sister.

"I know exactly what you are going through, Cleo. I just did the same some years ago. I would be the perfect person to help you with your school stress." She touched her sister's forehead while petting her head. "You know how much I want to help you," she finally said, making a fake sad face.

Manipulating Ramses? Oh, no problem.

Cleo tried to think of a way to get out of having her sister 'help', _fast_. "Much appreciated, sister, but you won't always be there to help me with everything I do in the future. No offense to you or your abilities, but I really think I need to learn these things _on my own_ , so that I'm prepared for learning and making decisions in the future."

She really hoped her father would buy it.

This made Nefera even angrier!

"You are correct, Cleo. Nefera, we appreciate your help, but why don't you learn for your appointment next week? It has the highest priority right now."

It was hard for Nefera not to completely freak out now. "Yes, daddy," she said as she walked out of the room.

That worked but Cleo and Nefera both knew it: This would have consequences for Cleo. Bad, bad consequences…

Cleo tried not to visibly shudder at the angry vibes she was getting from her sister, attempting instead to make small talk with her father. "Oh, Nefera has a modelling appointment next week? She hadn't told me."

"Yes, she does," her father answered. "And this time she'll go there!" His voice became louder, he seemed to be angry.

 _So that's what had Nefera so upset earlier_ , Cleo thought. "I hope so daddy, I think it would be good for her to get back into fashion. I'm sure she'll do perfectly." _and then she can go back to living abroad for a while._


	11. Of Learning to Cook

And with that, Cleo returned to her textbook. She had been working for several hours when she looked up at the sundial and realized just how hungry she was. The princess closed her book. "Would it be okay to take a break for lunch now, Daddy?"

"Take a break? Oh, Cleo. Are you sitting here for learning or are you sitting here for eating and wasting my time with talking to me?

Don't get lazy, Cleo. Please. The laziest person I know is that snakey-haired boy from your school! You don't want to be like him, do you?! He is an obstacle for you, your furure and education! Now do your work!"

Silence.

"Your sister has never been lazy. Well, she also didn't waste her time with something as unimportant as a 'boyfriend'!"

There were always several things Ramses was angry about. Cleo's school, Nefera's appointments, Deuce, work, etc. Many people actually wondered if Ramses had ever been happy instead of angry, stressed or angry AND stressed…

Cleo attempted to read for a while longer before closing her book again. "Perhaps I could have something to snack on _while_ I study? The mind can't work efficiently if the body is hungry, after all. It wouldn't be laziness, it would be productive."

She looked at her father with large, hopeful eyes.

"Stop annoying me, Cleo. You will eat when you show good results."

He sighed.

"You should spend more time with your sister. Maybe you would become more like her then."

Cleo grimaced at the thought of having to spend _any_ amount of time with her sister.

"Okay then, daddy, since I have culinary arts to work on anyway, I'll go and visit the kitchen and see what I can do about making us both something to eat! That way, I can learn, and you can mark how well I've done. High grades, _and_ a high-grade snack, courtesy of _moi_."

She stood from the desk gracefully, readying herself for a quick escape before her father could say otherwise, already backing out of the room as she continued speaking. "I'll just leave these books and things here ready to start on later, and then perhaps I'll spend some time with Nefera later this afternoon." _much, much_ later.

Ramses did not find this behaviour appropriate. Especially not for someone of royal birth. He was sure; such a behaviour had come from Deuce. It was all his fault! Luckily Cleo broke up with him. Ramses continued doing his work. He would talk to Cleo later. There was no more time Ramses should waste.

Right when Cleo entered the kitchen, there was someone standing right in front if her. Of course, it was Nefera. She was super angry and finally found a place where she and her little sister could be alone.

"Where do you think you are going, you little failure?"

Cleo came to a sudden halt at the sight of her sister. "Nefera! What are you doing all the way back here?"

Of all the places in the pyramid to meet up with her sister, Cleo had been certain that such a low-class, densely servant populated room as the kitchen would _never_ have been one of them.

"I was waiting for you," Nefera said angrily. She walked behind Cleo to close the kitchen door. "You won't get out of here before you told me what you just did in Daddy's work room!" Nefera crossed her arms.

She walked towards her sister, grabbing hold of her arms again. "If you ever dare to try to make Daddy think less of me, I will make you pay as hard as ever!

Now tell me what you told him before I completely lose my temper!"

"Nothing!" Cleo exclaimed, probably far too quickly to give the statement any credibility, even if it _was_ true. "I just asked to study in the office, and then you came in and he mentioned about your appointment, and I told him that I thought it would be good for you to go to the audition next week." she was being very careful not to call him 'daddy' after the incident that morning.

"That's all that happened. I didn't say anything about earlier. I didn't even say I'd seen you today!"

"But what you think is less than important. Now stop bothering daddy. He doesn't like you at all. Spending time with you is wasted time, and that's really the last thing daddy wants, isn't it?" Nefera made a fake sad face.

"You will go to your room and leave me and MY daddy alone! We don't want to see you! Not today, and not at all! Daddy wants to spend his time with me and if you have a problem with that, you can leave the palace and visit your stupid friends, or maybe even your ex? I honestly couldn't care less." She made a pause and made her voice sound quieter.

"You know what will happen if you dare to ignore my wishes, do you, little sister? So,

STAY AWAY FROM MY FATHER!"

With these words, the crown princess left the kitchen angrily. She was walking to her father's office. Nefera had no friends at all and some things to clear with her father. That was nothing for little babies like Cleo.

Well, Cleo wasn't going to be retrieving her text books any time soon… she decided that the best thing to do would be to stay here in the kitchen and out of her sister's way for a little while.

Leaning against the counter top as casually as she could manage in her current situation, Cleo made some lunch requests to the servants and watched their preparation for a short while before getting involved herself.

The first few attempts, which she decided would be the 'practice round', either ended up burned or misshapen to various degrees, so she kept them for herself. They still tasted _okay_ , but there was no need to send her father something with less than perfect presentation. It wasn't until she was perfectly happy with both the look and the taste of what she had done (with plenty of help, admittedly) that she had one of the servants take two plates to her father's office - one for Ramses and one for her sister - while she stayed _well_ out of the way.

The servant knocked on the door. Ramses was busy with explaining his daughter that her career was an extremely important thing and that he wouldn't tolerate any of the 'But daddy, I couldn't go-excuses'.

Hearing the knock on the door made Nefera feel anger. If that was Cleo, she would… Argh!

But Ramses allowed the person to come in. Both Ramses and Nefera were suprised to see the that it was a servant who was actually bringing them their lunch!

After a short while of lingering in the kitchen, Cleo internally facepalmed at not having thought to ask the servant to bring her books back from the office with him.

And since there was no sense in sending him a second time and further interrupting her father - because he _was_ her father, whatever Nefera had to say about it - she decided to return to her room and work on something else. Some light biteology reading, perhaps.

No doubt she would be called on soon enough, hopefully once Nefera had _gone_. It had certainly seemed as though her father was ready to lecture her again when she had left.

Cleo went to her room and kept herself busy with biteology. About thirty minutes later, there was a servant knocking on the door. He came in and told Cleo that her father wanted to talk to her. Right now!


	12. Of Secret Creepers Pets

Cleo followed the servant back to her father's work space, stepping in to the room once the door had been opened for her. No sooner had she crossed the threshold, the door was slammed closed again behind her. Staying where she was by the door, Cleo addressed her father from across the room. "Sooo… How was lunch?"

This time, Ramses was without Nefera and his voice was very quiet. There was no need to yell at Cleo. "Daughter, tell me, did you cook that?" Ramses seemed to be suprized. There has never been a De Nile who was able to cook.

"Well… I did have a little help." She expressed the 'small' amount with a hand gesture, showing the 'tiny' bit of help she had received with a space between her finger and thumb. Even if it was a bit of an understatement. "But, basically, yes. Did you like it?" She began to sound excited. Finally, maybe now her father would be able to see how she was progressing!

Ramses enjoyed his daughter's words. "It was quite enjoyable actually. Your sister has had some problems with it though. Nefera did not enjoy it but she has a… rather classy taste, you know. I also have to add that they were some things I had missed. But it was good for the first try, I would say."

Ramses would have actually liked to say that Nefera could have done it better, but he actually wasn't sure of that. Nefera has never cooked for her father.

"You know daddy, there is a way that I could improve _even more vastly_ on my first attempt." Cleo said, beginning to slip into her 'please daddy' voice.

"Now, I know you don't think much of him, but _Deuce_ is truly a marvelous chef, probably the best at Monster High, in fact, and I could really learn a lot from him."

Ramses sighed in an annoying way. He really missed the time when the people who mostly raised his children were nurses, servants and his wife.

"Cleo. I know what you are trying to do. But this boy will never enter this house again! It is my palace and I forbid it! I will never approve of him! If you need help, ask the servants or your intelligent sister. I am also ready to call a teacher who will come here and teach you." Silence.

"There's nothing too expensive for my two princesses."

Honestly, Cleo had seen this coming. But at least now this made her new request seem like the least demanding. "Okay Daddy, I understand… but on the subject of teachers, I would really like to stay at Monster High."

She crossed the room, feeling confident enough about making her point to face her father at close range. "I mean, monitoring my progress at home is all well and good, but really I think it would be more beneficial - both to you and for my future - for you to see that I _can_ achieve the highest grades with all of the real-world distractions. All I'm asking for is one more scaremester to prove that my failure was down to no one but myself, and yes, I was very wrong and entirely un-de Nile, but I have also now turned things around. Completely." she batted her lashes sweetly "Besides, what would Monster High do without its fearleading captain and social chairmonster?"

Again, Ramses was not sure what exactly to answer. He also didn't plan his day like this. On today's schedule was work, work and more work but the only thing he did so far was discussing with his daughters. None of them seemed to be able to see what was best for them! Luckily, Ramses was there to show his great leadership.

"We will talk about this later, young lady. I suggest you go to your room and keep learning. You know who to ask if you need help."

For Ramses, the conversation was over. Talk was unworthy and, again, something he wasted his time on. "Please leave now, daughter. I am busy."

"Yes, daddy."

Cleo quickly retrieved her study materials from earlier and left the office. Obviously, convincing her father to let her go back to Monster High was going to take a little work, but at least he hadn't outright said 'no'. That at least meant that she had a chance.

Returning to her room, Cleo stored all of her revision notes in her new secret spot with the partially sewn dress. Studying could wait for the moment, there was something else that needed to be done first.

Taking a small piece of papyrus, Cleo wrote a note for Deuce. Even if he was banned from the palace by her father, she wanted him to know that she hadn't meant what she had said on the phone. She rolled the message as small as possible, and took it to Hissette, who was sunning herself on her rock, hiding it in the snake's jewellery.

She leaned in and whispered for her pet to make sure the note reached Deuce's house. Even if Cleo couldn't leave, she was confident that Hissette would be able to get out unnoticed, just like she did so often only to appear in the school's catacombs.

Meanwhile, Nefera was sitting in her room, in front of her mirror. Her reflection was clearly the most beautiful thing ever, but there was something bothering the princess: Why did she always have to be the victim? First, her father forces her to attend something she does not want to attend, then he forces her to learn and then he makes her eat gross food. Would the pain ever end?

The princess got up and looked out of the window. She saw Hissette crawling somewhere. What was Hissette doing outside?! Nefera would have checked but she felt way too weak to. Her health was not in a good state, but these stupid losers around her were just too dumb to see it! Sending a servant was also not a good idea because Nefera knew that they were unable to do anything right!

Ah! What a shame! Nefera felt horrible for herself. That was clearly not what she deserved. Poor Nefera! Again, she was the victim.


	13. Of Taking a Royal Bath

Cleo breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Hissette slither out of sight from her tomb window. Now she could rest easy, for a little while at least.

She decided that now would be an excellent time for a nice long soak in her royal bath, and then she would continue with her sewing.

When Cleo arrived at her bathroom, she tried to open the door, but it was locked!

Some seconds later, the person in the bathroom opened the door from the other side. It was Nefera who had the same idea as Cleo: she wanted to take a bath. A bath would do Nefera good and she was clearly the person who deserved it the most.

"Do you want to use the bathroom? Oh, how sad that I want to take a bath now!" She made a fake smile and closed the door again. Hopefully it would make her little sister feel upset!

Also, how about Nefera would just take two bathes? Or three? Maybe four? Cleo definitely had to wait some… hours.

Cleo knocked furiously "Go and use your **own** bathroom, Nefera!"

She knocked again. And again. Cleo huffed and leaned against the door "Fine then, have your bath. But I get to use _your_ bathroom!"

Of course, she wasn't, not while her sister could pin anything on her to report to their father, but she hoped that the threat might get some kind of response.

The door opened again. "My bathroom?" She crossed her arms.

How could Cleo dare to say this?! Nefera was obviously feeling horror-ible! Didn't her sister have a soul?!

"You little failure. You are NOT going to use my bathroom. I'll tell daddy!"

Nefera was so stressed! Why did all this happen to her?! Cleo was being so mean again! More of this stress and Nefera could get seriously sick! Didn't anybody care?! Argh! What emotionless, cold-hearted robots!

The younger de Nile raised her hands up in exasperation. "Fine, use my bathroom. I'll wait."

She turned on her heel as the door slammed shut and the lock clicked back into place.

Fine then, change of plan.

Sewing _now_ , bath _after_.

Several hours passed. Now, Cleo was sure: the bathroom must be free. Nefera couldn't possibly spend three hours alone in the bathroom.

The princess went downstairs to check. The bathroom door was still locked. Seriously?!

Having finished putting together the top half of her dress, Cleo was far past the point of being bored with sewing. Knocking again, louder than before, Cleo called for her sister again. "Nefera? What are you doing in there? How can you possibly need to spend so long in _my_ bathroom?"

Cleo heard her sister laughing. In an evil way, as usual. "Beauty needs its time, little baby sister." She laughed again, absolutely enjoying the situation.

"Why don't you go spend some time with your boyfriend instead? Oh, I forgot. You don't have one anymore." Again, Nefera laughed.

She was definitely the funniest person that has ever existed. She had a great sense of humour and people who did not laugh about Nefera's jokes were jealous idiots with no humour at all.

Cleo made a noise of annoyance and knotted her hands in her hair in frustration.

"I'm sure you're already beautiful enough, Nefera."

The words definitely did not sound sincere.

Nefera laughed again. "Yes, correct. I am made out of pure flawlessness and nobody will ever be as beautiful as me."

Nefera could talk all day about her fabulous self.

"I am talented, intelligent, royal, beautiful and rich. Also, funny, charming, polite and friendly. Truly god-like."

Cleo didn't see her sister's face but she was sure that Nefera was smiling. She always was when she talked about her 'talents'.

Cleo leaned with her back to the door. "Well then, beautiful and wonderful sister, you are obviously already, quite naturally, fabulous enough without having to spend any more time getting ready."

She turned, pressing the side of her face to the door too listen for any response. "Surely you could leave now, and be _charitable_ enough to let _me_ try to get some time in for beauty and relaxation."

Nefera turned to the mirror in the big bathroom. Ahhhh~ She was so beautiful, it was almost forbidden to look that good. She opened the bathroom door, seeing Cleo standing in front of her.

"What do you think is the most beautiful feature on me? My skin? My hair? My eyes? My lips? Ahhhh~ I can't decide! Everything on me looks totally god-like!"

Cleo rolled her eyes while her sister was busy musing on her own beauty, but responded to her as well as she could. "Well all of your features compliment each other so well, it would be impossible to choose just one solid ' _best_ '… Although, I have always been a fan of your lovely Nile blue hair." which in essence was true, she supposed. She had often tried to copy her sister's color scheme, but always with enough difference to still stand out in her own right.

Really, Nefera had been more of an influence on her younger sister than she ever cared to know.

Nefera laughed. She walked away, smiling. Ahhhh~ What a beautiful day it just was!

She was sure to spend the next hours with her servants. They always enjoyed to play the compliment game with her. The best location for that was, of course, Nefera's big golden mirror in her room.

Cleo breathed a sigh of relief and entered the bathroom herself, closing the door and locking it, striding across the room to the oversized bath tub in victory.

She ran a hot bath for herself, soon realising that her favorite scent of bath salts was empty - _Nefera_. Regardless, Cleo wasn't going to let it spoil her relaxation time, using her _second_ favorite instead and soaking for a good while until she thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to leave for dinner before it reached curfew.

She dried herself and wrapped up in her dressing gown, leaving to her room to see if food had been brought yet. She didn't expect to be dining with the family again just yet.

When Cleo entered her room, she saw that, yes, her food had been brought up. It was still warm, standing on her desk. But there was one thing Cleo did NOT expect to see. It was nothing tragic, but it had never happened before.

Azura, who was usually with Nefera,.. well.. 'enjoyed' the food before Cleo could.

Um, Cleo, there's a beetle in your soup…


	14. Of Drowning Dung Beetles

Cleo carefully picked Azura out of her food and on to the desk. "Ughh…"

As both a religious symbol from her roots and her sister's adored pet, there was no way Cleo was going to squish and/or hurt the beetle, but she still wasn't happy with having to share a meal with her. This was no visit from Khepri.

Lifting her eating utensils, Cleo cast her gaze over a the insect. "So, you're determined to take everything that's mine too, then." She pokes at the food where the beetle had been eating, wondering if it was still safe to eat. Hopefully Azura hadn't been rolling any 'suns' to her sister recently. "Well, how does this evening's meal taste?" She rolled her eyes at herself for talking to a _bug_ who was obviously _not_ going to answer her, and decided to chance a bite. It was passable.

Just then, Hissette arrived back in Cleo's room, slithering across to the desk and wrapping herself around the princess' leg. Cleo saw that she was brandishing a new note on her necklace - a reply - and quickly removed it, reading it to herself happily. Deuce was obviously home from Greece, and he had written back to her. And he _understood_. And, _unofficially_ , they were back together.

Only a second later, Nefera entered Cleo's room. There was Azura!

"Azura! What are you doing in that little failure's room?"

It seemed like the compliment game made Nefera feel angry instead of confident. The peasants around her did everything wrong! Again! Argh! Unbelievable!

Cleo was startled by her sister's voice as she entered the room. She quickly scrunched up the note and hid it in the pocket of her robe, and tried to appear as nonchalant as possible as she continued eating.

"You shouldn't worry about Azura, Nefera. Worrying leads to wrinkles." She smiled to herself at that one. "We were just sharing dinner."

That 'joke' made Nefera angrier than she was before! Cleo was not funny at all! When would she finally understand that?!

"Be quiet! I will never have wrinkles!" She pushed Cleo around. "Stop forcing Azura to be around you! What you are doing is gross and I'll tell daddy that you tried to kill my poor, precious Azura with feeding soup to her! SHE COULD HAVE DIED!"

Nefera was extremely angry, but also very serious. She was, as usual, beliving her own lies and the silly situations she made up in her head to make herself look like the victim.

Cleo was dangerous! She wanted to let all of her anger out on Azura, just because she was a tiny, innocent beetle!

"Well, I'm sorry that Azura decided she wanted a taste." Cleo stood from her chair and made her way over to the wardrobe. "She's perfectly fine, Nefera, not a single scratch on her pretty little wings. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get changed."

Nefera walked after Cleo and pushed her against the wall. "Why are you so rude, huh?! You won't do anything without having me allow it!" This time, she yelled at her sister.

That was not the first time for Azura and Hissette to watch a De Nile sister fight. It usually ended up with Cleo getting hurt and their father not believing her.

"I'm walking around in my bath robe, Nefera, what else do you expect me to do?" Cleo responded angrily. Nefera may have been crown princess, but she wasn't her sister's ruler!

"You'll do what I tell you to do! Now give me and Azura compliments and excuses for your rude behaviour! Azura could be dead because you tried to poison her! APOLOGIZE NOW OR I'LL CALL DADDY!"

Nefera pushed her sister against the wall again. When would she finally learn who was boss?!

Ughh, the compliment game? With Azura as well?

Did her sister honestly have this much time on her hands?

Cleo cleared her throat. "Azura's body shimmers like a precious sapphire and reflects beautifully from your perfectly tanned complexion." … As for an excuse for her rude behavior… what rude behavior? Oh well, best to play the safety card "And I only did, and said, what I did because I am very, very jealous."

Nefera smirked. She enjoyed to hear Cleo saying this, but it was not enough.

"Azura forgives you. But not me."

She sat down on Cleo's chair and used her 'we have plenty of time-voice'.

"Tell me more about my flawless self."

Cleo leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. Obviously this was going to take a while. "You've really mastered your makeup. The flicks in your eyeliner bring out the shape of your eyes perfectly. And speaking of your eyes, they're such a regal shade of purple. Truly dazing."

"Yes, I know," Nefera said, waiting for Cleo to continue.

Hissette was rolling her eyes while Azura was trying to taste some soup again. She usually ignored Nefera and the deep need for compliments she had, she already knew how her owner was like. Sometimes, Nefera was even talking to her pet like, "Azura, what looks best on me?" "Everything, I know!"

Azura found that kinda weird but the thing she mostly cared about now was definitely the tasty soup in front of her!

Cleo paused, thinking of what to say next. "And you have an excellent figure that all fashion fits to perfectly. Honestly, they would be idiots not to hire you at the auditions next week. In fact, why do you even _need_ to audition? They should hire you straight off the bat!"

Nefera laughed. "Yes, exactly what I was thinking! Why does Daddy even send me to these stupid agencies? I'm better than everyone anyway!"

Nefera was laughing again when they heard a weird noise. It was Azura who actually managed to make herself fall into Cleo's soup.

But as long as Nefera got compliments, she didn't care about anything. She was flawless and Azura was a worthless bug who was not smart enough to eat in a proper way.

Now Nefera was, of course, expecting Cleo to give her more compliments. Azura didn't need help, it was Nefera who was the most important person. She needed all the attention now. Azura was, compared to Nefera, as important as a stinky plastic bag.

But wasn't everyone?

Cleo heard the faint 'plop' as Azura fell into the liquid.

She left her space against the wall, trying to reach over Nefera to her desk to try and fish the drowning beetle out of her soup, but she couldn't quite reach Azura, or the handle of her spoon. "Nefera, your scarab…"

Nefera didn't turn around to look at Azura. Why should she care?! Instead of that, she was yelling at Cleo.

"I'm waiting for my compliments!"

Nefera could be glad that she didn't say that louder because Ramses was just coming in. He wanted to check what Cleo had learned in all these hours.

But before he could say anything, Nefera turned around to check what was actually happening to Azura. And then, she saw her chance!

"OH MY RA! CLEO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO AZURA?!"

Cleo hadn't seen her father come in. "Nothing, Nefera! Just… can you get the spoon? I can't reach her from here!"

Ramses interrupted his daughters. Couldn't they just do what he told them to do?! "What is happening here?!"

Cleo stopped trying to reach for the bowl and turned abruptly to face her father. "Oh, umm.. Hi, Daddy." She chanced a glance at Nefera who was, as she had suspected, glaring at her for daring to call Ramses de Nile 'daddy'. "Azura fell in the soup, we're just helping her get out." She smiled as sweetly as possible, although it probably came across as awkward and somewhat guilty.

Nefera immediately got up from the chair she had been sitting on, fishing her scarab out of the soup. Azura's body was full of the orange-colored soup, she was not moving. Nefera turned to her father.

"Oh my Ra! Daddy! It's… It's too late…" Nefera covered her eyes with her hands. She dramatically put her arms around her father's waist/chest, making sobbing noises.

"Father! I came up here because I know how important Cleo's education is for you, so I wanted to help her with the subjects she had problems with! Cleo completely freaked out! She pushed me against the wall and told me that she didn't need my help. I love my little sister, so I still tried to help her, but then she grabbed Azura, who took place on my shoulder, and threw her in the soup!"

Nefera covered her eyes again, making crying noises. How could Cleo do this to her?! Didn't she have a soul?!

"Ughh, that is such–" She stopped herself from cursing in front of their father "– I mean… Daddy, you know how hard I've been working on my studies, do you really think I would do something like that? To my own big sister? Azura fell, I was just trying to get her back out!"

She left out the part where it was Nefera who had pushed _her_ into the wall. She would only fight back harder the more Cleo tried to contradict her story.

Nefera looked through the little space of her fingers to look at her father. Was he actually going to believe the lies Cleo was telling?! Nefera clearly couldn't stop this now.

"FATHER! Azura is dead! And it's all Cleo's fault! You know how much I loved my little pet!"

Cleo didn't know how Nefera made it happen, but there were tears coming out of her eyes. The crown princess hugged her father. She was sobbing.

Cleo's guilty face, Nefera's tearing eyes and Azura's not-moving body… Ramses didn't need to see more. "CLEO!"

"Daddy, I didn't do anything!" Cleo couldn't believe that her sister was trying to pin everything on her - again! "Maybe… maybe Azura isn't dead! She could make it… couldn't she?"

Ramses was extremely angry. He had often been angry, yes, but never THAT angry.

"DAUGHTER! ARE YOU INSANE?! I WAS NOT SURE OF IT, BUT NOW I AM: YOU WILL DEFINITELY NOT GO BACK TO SCHOOL! YOU WILL STAY HERE AND LEARN FOR THE REST OF YOUR UNLIFE! YOU WILL NOT EAT WITH US AND YOU WILL NOT TALK TO US!"

Ramses pushed his daughter forward. "GO TO BED! I DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOU FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER!" He pointed at Cleo's bed.

The servants were called to bring Azura away and check up on her. Maye she still was okay? Nobody really believed that, but you should never lose hope, right?

Ramses put his hand on Nefera's shoulder when they left Cleo's room. Nefera was still fake-crying. Honestly, she was good at that. Really good.


	15. Of Being Afraid of the Dark

Cleo flopped onto the bed in frustration.

There went all of her plans. Every single one of them.

Maybe she could just leave, run away and go to live with Deuce. Neither of them wanted anything to do with her, they weren't interested in seeing her around the palace any more. They probably wouldn't even realise…

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she was going to pack her bags (or a few of them, anyway), and just walk out. And then, they wouldn't have to worry about her anymore.

Hours passed. There was no soul in Cleo's room, except for herself. The servants weren't allowed to take Cleo's orders anymore and Hissette had been taken away from her.

It was about 10pm when Cleo laid in bed. After what happened, falling asleep was not easy. Her big room was extremely dark. There was only the little night light Cleo kept on the desk next to her.

She had just fallen asleep when she heard someone enter her room. Cleo wasn't sure if it was a dream or not. Suddenly, she felt a cold hand on her forehead.

Cleo was shocked! She abruptly opened her eyes. They made her see someone who sat right in front of her, on her bed in the dark room!

"Did Daddy reject us, hmm?" It was Nefera, who had no problem with waking Cleo up at night just to make her feel worthless again. The crown princess made a fake smile.

"Is that all you came in here for?" Cleo asked. She was too tired for this. And not just in the literal, sleepy sense. She was tired of her sister always having to try and find new ways to mess up her unlife.

Nefera, who was wearing her nile blue night dress, laughed. She made herself lay on her belly to grab her sister's cheeks.

"Does nobody love you?" She laughed again. What a funny joke! It was perfect for the situation Cleo was in!

As if that wasn't enough, Nefera grabbed her sister's night light and turned it off.

"Awww, are we so scared without our little nighty-lighty?" Again, the princess laughed. Cleo was such a crybaby, Nefera didn't have a hard time with highly enjoying herself.

Cleo was in full panic mode. She couldn't see a thing, it was so dark. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, she seemed to gain control of her body again, fumbling blindly for the night light, but she couldn't seem to find it.

She was crying, hyperventilating. She reached out for her sister just to know that there was someone else there with her in the dark.

Cleo heard Nefera laughing. Thousand times eviller than usually. Ahhhh~ Nefera still remembered the good old days where she made Cleo cry every day by taking away her dolls.

But Nefera didn't turn the light back on, no. Why should she? Hearing little Baby Cleo crying was such an amazing thing to hear!

Nefera pushed Cleo's head against the pillow by pushing away her sister's forehead. Cleo felt like her sister was drowning her in the deepest of oceans.

She was drowning in the dark, and there was no one around who would pull her out of it. Chocking on her sobs, she begged and pleaded with her sister to turn the light back on.

Cleo was so weak! Just like she was as a child! Nefera thought about turning the night light in her hand back on, but she found the idea to make fun of Cleo by using her baby-voice much funnier. After all, it was an event Cleo should never ever forget! :)

"Awww! Where is the litty nighty-lighty, hm?! Where is it?! Can't you find it?!" She laughed, still pushing Cleo against the pillow.

Cleo clutched onto her sister's arm with both hands like it was some sort of lifeline, breathing erratically, trying in vain to quieten her crying.

After another laugher, Nefera turned the night light back on. She would get a problem if something happened to Cleo because of her.

Nefera kept the night light in her hand and pet Cleo's head. "Awww, you poor thing! Are we so so scared of the darkness?"

She laughed again, before becoming more serious. "You are such a crybaby, really."

Cleo tossed her head to the side, avoiding her sister's patronizing petting, and refused to look directly at her. "Put it back on the side, please."

Nefera laughed. Did Cleo already forget that she had nothing to say because Nefera was boss?

"And what if I don't?" She made an excited face and waited for Cleo's reaction. It would surely be even funnier than the fact that Cleo seriously wanted her sister to put the night light back on its place.

Cleo was done trying to argue. "And if you don't… then there's nothing I can do to stop you. I'm just asking you to, as my sister."

"Ahhhhhh~". Nefera grabbed Cleo's cheeks. "You little, little baby!"

She wasn't sure if she should turn the light back off, start a nice compliment round, or just leave her sister alone.

Nefera decided to make herself sit next to her sister in her bed and make her think of things she didn't want to be remembered of. Maybe Cleo would start crying again! It would be extremely amusing! For Nefera, at least.

"Do you still remember when you broke up with Deuce? And when Daddy said he liked me more than you? Or when Hissette was taken away from you?"

Nefera made a fake smile. Ahhh, what nice things to think about!

Next, she decided to tell Cleo some other things. They weren't true, but was that important? Of course not. Cleo wouldn't find out anyway.

"I still remember when you were a baby and nobody took care of you. You were worthless next to me. But you obviously still are!" She laughed.

"I feel like it was yesterday when mother told me I would get a little sibling. She said she didn't want another child and you were a failure that just had happened." Nefera laughed again. Ahhh, she was the best at telling funny stories!

It was like Nefera enjoyed reminding her sister of all the ways that she turned their father against her. Cleo was able to ignore her sister's jibe about Deuce, though. She didn't know about the note.

Something struck her about her sister's story though, even if it was just another one of her made up tales. "So, you actually acknowledge that I was born into the family, now?"

Nefera laughed again, louder than before. Her laughs were as fake as her character. "Of course not! You don't really think you are worth something, do you? You are unwanted. A mistake."

"Then stop wasting all of your precious time reminding me, and use it to get on with your own unlife." she was starting to sound bitter.

"What?!" Nefera hit her sister's cheek. Not hard though, she didn't want to get in trouble for being 'aggressive'.

"How dare you?! I do whatever I want with my time! You can't tell me anything! You are a worthless waste of space! Nobody ever loved you! Argh!"

She hit her sister's cheek again. Again, not hard enough to leave a mark.

Nefera was extremely angry now. She stood up with the night light in her hands. The crown princess turned it off as she marched outside. She closed the door of Cleo's room angrily and took the night light with her.

Now Cleo was completely alone. In a room as dark as the tomb she had been in for more than 1,300 years.

Cleo squeezed her eyes tightly shut and pulled her sleeping mask down to cover them, holding her breath and repeating the same sentence over and over in her head like a mantra.

It's only dark because my eyes are closed.

It's only dark because my eyes are closed.

 _It's only dark because my eyes are closed._


	16. Of Leaving Home

Nefera walked into her own room and threw the night light in the corner. It was as worthless as Cleo, Deuce and everyone else who didn't worship her!

The princess told the servants to stand in front of her room. That's what she made them do every night because she didn't want anybody to bother her while she was taking her beauty sleep. Especially not an unwanted failure called Cleo.

Nefera went to sleep in anger. Azura felt okay again, but that was the last thing the crown princess cared about. Cleo would find two things broken tommorow. Firstly, her stupid night light and secondly, her heart.

It needed to break just as much as Nefera's broke so many years ago. Her little sister could die in her ugly, dark room, Nefera wouldn't care. She'd be happy about it. Cleo was unneeded competition in Nefera's unlife. Competition that needed to disappear.

Cleo fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with nightmares. She tossed and turned in her sleep, getting tangled in her blankets until she eventually woke herself up in fright, panicking, thinking in her half-asleep state that she was still wrapped up tight in burial bandages.

She struggled against them until she finally realised that she wasn't lying in that awful stone box, but in her comfortably plush bed. Sitting up, she removed her sleep mask and looked around. The sun was just peaking over the horizon and the dim morning light had started to filter in through the window.

There was no way Cleo was going to be able to sleep again, despite how early it obviously still was.

Now seemed like a good time to start packing.

It was about 5am, so there was no one awake. Only the tiny Azura, who didn't want to sleep in Nefera's room. Her owner had been terribly angry and the scarab was afraid of getting hurt again. She had managed to spend the night on Cleo's desk. It was dark, yes, but at least there was no danger.

Right when Cleo wanted to pack, Azura flew towards her. The scarab beetle was curious what was going to happen. Why did Cleo pack her stuff? Didn't she like her home?

Cleo was surprised to see Azura flying around in front of her face. So she had still been alive. Nefera had made the whole fuss about nothing. Did that really surprise her?

Cleo held out her hand for the scarab to land there and then placed the beetle on her shoulder. "Shhh," she told Azura "don't tell Nefera."

Not that she really imagined the bug talking to her sister, or Nefera really listening if she did, to be perfectly honest, but she couldn't talk to Hissette about anything right now so the little blue beetle provided some small amount of comfort.

Cleo knew that she would have to carry all of the bags by herself, so she would have to pack light. She would probably only be able to reasonably manage 4 or 5 bags and one wheeled suitcase, so she made sure to only pack her favorite outfits, shoes, jewellery, makeup and toiletries. She also made sure to reserve a bag for all of her school work, so that she would still have it to take with her to Monster High at the end of the summer.

Azura, who honestly had a tiiiiny brain, was still trying to understand what Cleo was doing.

About one minute later, Cleo heard a familiar voice. It was near hear room. "Azura?! Azura, where are you?! How dare you to hide from me?! I need you! Come here! AZURA!"

The voice was Nefera's and it sounded angry. Reeeeally angry. Cleo was wondering why her sister was awake so early in the morning. Azura, on the other hand, wondered if she could make it out of here alive…

There was really NO ONE who dared to mess with an angry Nefera… Except an angry Ramses, maybe.

Cleo stepped into the wardrobe and closed the door, save for a small slit to let the light through.

Hopefully, Nefera wouldn't come looking for her beetle in Cleo's room.

And if she did, then hopefully she wouldn't come looking in the closet.

Cleo knew that her luck had left her long ago, when she saw her sister entering the room. Nefera didn't care if Cleo was asleep or not, so being loud wasn't a problem for her. It was just important that Ramses didn't hear anything. Nefera couldn't risk to start a fight with him yet. Not before her appointment.

Anyway, if she found Azura hiding in Cleo's room, she would make both of them pay. Azura for leaving her alone, and Cleo for… well… for being born!

"AZURA!"

Cleo peeked out of the small gap in the door and watched her sister searching, then leaned back into the shadows of her clothing and put her finger to her lips as if telling Azura to be quiet.

Azura wondered what she was doing in the dark closet and why Cleo was giving her this weird sign.

After searching for five seconds, Nefera clapped her hands. A servant entered the room. He had a plate with some pieces of melons in his hand.

Nefera grabbed a piece. "Azuuuura," she said in a charming and quiet, almost friendly voice.

Oh my Ra! Azura couldn't hold herself back. She flew out of the closet, making Cleo lose her hiding place.

"What in Ra's name are you doing in the closet?" Nefera asked in an arrogant tone as she saw her sister hiding in the closet like a scared puppy.

Cleo was so dumb. Didn't she know that hiding in closets was completely out? Only losers were hiding in their closets! Also, only a blind idiot would hide from Nefera's timeless beauty.

"I'm not _hiding_ in the closet I'm just… picking an outfit." Cleo said indignantly. She didn't want to tell Nefera that she was planning on leaving. She just wanted to disappear without her father or sister knowing. Maybe that way, they might actually realise they missed her.

Nefera stepped forward, taking out a dress. (Out of the closet, duh ?) "Hmmm," she said looking at it. "That is mine now."

Nefera didn't pay attention to Azura who was eating one of the melon pieces. Without the servant, the beetle would have fallen to the ground.

But why should Nefera care? Azura was going to pay. And Cleo too.

"I will tell Daddy that you stole my precious Azura again. You wanted to kill her, didn't you?!"

It was fine. Any dress that hadn't already made it into the suitcase, Cleo wouldn't have been able to take anyway.

"Where do you even come up with these ideas? She flew in here, while I was picking out clothes, and now you've found her again. End of story."

Nefera raised an eyebrow. She wasn't pleased.

"Oh, are we being rude again? Fine. I thought you had enough intelligence to know how it works between us. But you obviously don't. Did you already forget about last night, you little crybaby?!"

"No, I didn't forget. I haven't forgotten all of the other times, either, why would last night be any different?"

Cleo wasn't interested in indulging in her sister's fantasy world today. The sooner Nefera left, the sooner _Cleo_ could _leave_.

Nefera turned to Azura who was still busy eating the piece of melon that was almost as big as her.

"Come on, we will leave. Cleo is someone we don't want to be seen with, do we, Azura?"

No answer.

"AZURA!"

They both left the room.

Cleo double-checked her packing to make sure that she had as much of what she wanted to take with her packed as possible. Since her iCoffin had been taken away, and more recently her night light, she would need to buy new ones, which wouldn't be too much of a problem since she still had some of her last lot of allowance left in her purse. She would have Deuce take her to get them at a more reasonable time.

Checking the hallway to make sure that Nefera had well and truly returned to her tomb, Cleo arranged all of her luggage as comfortably as possible and made her way through the maze of corridors to the front door.

Casting one last look back into the golden hallways, she closed the door behind her.

In the meantime, Nefera went to sleep again. It was way too early for her to be awake. The crown princess was sure that it was way too exhausting for her to be awake so early. Argh! It was all Azura's fault!

While Nefera tried to fall asleep again, Azura left the room. She was tiny, so it was easy to find something to go through.

The little beetle flew after Cleo. What was she doing? Was she leaving the palace? Because of Nefera? Azura didn't understand anything. She really wanted to find out though!


	17. Of Arriving at Deuce's House

Over the noise of her suitcase rolling across the sandy drive, Cleo didn't notice the faint hum of Azura's wings as the beetle landed in her luggage.

It wasn't far to Deuce's house, thank Ra, because she couldn't imagine carrying so many bags for much longer. Manual labor was exhausting.

Stepping up to the tall pillars adorning Deuce's front porch, Cleo knocked loudly, hoping to gain someone's attention at this early hour. The door crept open a short while later, revealing Deuce's mother, Medusa, with a nest of hissing snakes atop her head. She leaned against the door, one eyebrow raised up above the top of her sunglasses. "Cleo? Do you realize what time it is?"

Cleo adjusted the strap of one of her bags and held her head high. "Yes, I do… Can I come in? Is Deuce awake?"

Medusa looked Cleo over through her tinted lenses, considering her request, before moving away from the door to let Cleo past. "You're lucky we're still running on Greek time young lady. Does your father know you're here?"

Cleo was startled by Medusa's question, turning to her with a panicked expression "Don't tell him."

Ms. Gorgon glanced down at the princess' bagged belongings, probably putting together pieces of what her son had told her of Cleo's family, seeming to understand. She nodded towards the marble staircase. "Leave those here and go on up. He's in his room."

It was about 8am when Nefera woke up. It was way too early, yes. She felt like the only remedy for this TERROR-IBLE situation was to go to Cleo's room and steal some of her dresses. It was Nefera who needed these dressed the most, so Cleo shouldn't be so egoistic/egoistical. Nefera looked best in these dresses anyway. She was made out of timeless beauty after all.

When Nefera entered the room, she didn't see her sister anywhere. Ugh, where was that crybaby again?!

Instead of worrying, Nefera imagined the thought of Cleo being in the bathroom and crying her eyes out. She laughed. What a funny thing to think about!

Cleo _was_ in a bathroom, but it wasn't at her own house. Having headed upstairs at the Gorgon residence, Cleo was applying the finishing touches to her makeup. She had left the house with barely any, just enough to be presentable, and decided that her look needed fixing.

Packing her things back into their travel case, Cleo left the bathroom heading for Deuce's room. She had just reached out for the handle when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned round to see Medusa.

Her boyfriend's mother pointed to a room just down the hall "I've sorted out a guest room for you, all of your bags are in there." she explained "Don't think that this is a permanent fix, Cleo. I honestly hope you sort out whatever brought you here." She then made her way to her own room, leaving Cleo to go about her business.

Opening the door to Deuce's room, she found him absorbed in one of his video games… she didn't know the name of it. She also didn't know if he was still awake because of jet lag, or if this was just a part of his daily gaming schedule. "Heath, dude, use the rocket scorcher." he said, obviously using a headset to talk to his friends online. So this _was_ just a thing boys did in the early hours.

Cleo cleared her throat loudly to gain her boyfriend's attention. He paused the game and turned his head lifting his microphone out of the way, expecting his mom to be at the door asking him to keep the noise down, and was shocked to find Cleo there instead. "Cleo? What are you doing here? it's like…" he pressed the home button on his controller to bring up the time "6am?"

"I'm moving in… temporarily."

Deuce was partially excited by the news, but also concerned, "O… kay? How come babe?"

"I don't want to talk about it." she crossed the room to Deuce and rested against the back of his gaming chair, playing with the snakes on his head. He tilted his head back to look up at her with a questioning look. She sighed "Not now, maybe later?"

Standing back up from her resting position, Cleo moved to instead sit by the side of the chair. "Go on, continue with your 'rocket scorcher'-ing."

Cleo already felt safer with Deuce by her side.

Her lack of proper sleep that morning was starting to catch up to the princess, and she started to lose focus of what was happening on the screen and doze off, even with all of the crashes and explosions.

Deuce turned down the volume on his TV, not wanting to wake his sleeping ghoulfriend; he cast his glance over to her at different intervals in his gameplay, smiling to himself at how agoreable she looked, until she eventually startled herself into waking up when her head slipped from its resting place against the side of Deuce's chair.

She rubbed the sleep her eyes in a way that had been practiced for many years so as not to smudge her eyeliner, and tried as best as possible to look unphazed by her ungraceful awakening. "What time is it?"

Deuce checked his screen again "Uhh… like, 8?"

"Time to take a breakfast break?"

"Sure, I can grab us some bread and honey" he said, standing from his seat and stretching, feeling stiff from having been sat down for so long, before switching off the TV and Hexbox "And I think we might have some grapes in the fridge."

"Sounds delicious." she said from her spot on the floor. "Carry me to the kitchen?"

Around 8am, it was also Ramses who woke up. He wasn't a long-sleeper and there was much work he had to do. When Ramses got up this morning, there was no one but his servants. Nefera was in her room, she usually slept very long, calling it 'beauty sleep'.

Ramses didn't like the idea of sleeping so long. He found that people who slept overly long, were nothing but lazy. In Ramses opinion, sleep didn't have anything to do with beauty. You were either born beautiful, or not, and there was work that waited to be done. So why oversleep the whole day? With sleeping, you won't reach anything.

On the other hand, Nefera was a great daughter and Ramses was sure that everything Nefera did yesterday was learning for her appointment. So, some sleep would do her good.

What Ramses didn't know though was just that Nefera didn't do anything for her appointment and probably wouldn't go there anyway. She was way too stressed already, wasn't she? She was. At least in her own opinion. What the others thought was useless anyway.

Back to Ramses and his plans: He would eat breakfast with Nefera in some hours and after it, start with his work. Cleo would stay in her room, because Ramses forbid her to go out. He might check up on her later… much later.

Having been carried downstairs, as requested, Cleo had just finished a simple but delicious breakfast dish prepared by her boyfriend - because, yes, they were once again very much official.

She was now recounting the dreadful tale of her summer thus far. "… so then _Nefera_ told daddy that I tried to drown Azura in my soup! As if he wasn't angry enough already, he's said he's going to have me removed from Monster High to monitor my behavior! Honestly, the only one who needs supervision is **her** ; I don't know _how_ she gets away with it." there was a long moment of silence while she considered whether or not to tell the last part of her story.

Well, she might as well.

"And the of course there's what she did this morning. You know how I'm…" she leaned forward across the table towards Deuce and whispered "afraid of the dark…" as if it was still some big secret and Spectra might be around to report on it, "well she came into my room, _stole_ my night light, and then just _left_ me there! I can't _wait_ for her to start modeling again, I really can't. She's so much easier to deal with when she's in another country."

Deuce was disliking Nefera more and more as the list went on. "I bet I could make a great statue out of her." he said, adjusting his shades, "maybe that'd help keep her quiet for you."

Cleo laughed, and hit Deuce lightly on the arm "You can't do that!"

He smiled back at her "Nah, you're right babe… I'd get my Mom to do it. It's more permanent that way."

"What would you get me to do?" Medusa interceded, having just entered the room.

"Take a long hard look at Cleo's sister." Deuce explained casually.

"Oh, yeah, I'd do that. Don't even worry about paying me."

Cleo continued laughing, thoroughly enjoying being in the company of others who shared her opinion. "Thank you for your kind offers, but I'd be happy enough with her going back to Egypt."

They continued to chat idly for a short while before Medusa decided to address her son. "I hope you realize you aren't getting out of doing your chores just because you have a guest. Remember, the vacuuming needs doing today… In fact," she turned her attention to Cleo, "take the princess with you. Maybe with two of you, you'll get it done twice as fast."

Right now, Cleo didn't much mind the suggestion. She was sure that Deuce would do most, if not all of, the work; and even if he didn't, even household chores seemed preferable to doing any kind of revision today.


	18. Of Retail Therapy

In the meantime, the two de Niles were enjoying breakfast. The servants were excellent cooks!

Nefera would never admit it, but she wouldn't continue modeling. It was way too stressful and no model agency treated her correctly! They didn't deserve her anyway!

The crown princess was thankful that her father didn't mention the appointment with the agency yet.

After breakfast, Nefera walked up to Cleo's room. Ramses started doing his work and he always got angry when his daughters were interrupting him.

When Nefera opened the door, there was no Cleo. Where was that baby?! And more importantly, were was Azura?!

Nefera, who, of course, cared really really much about her poor, precious Azura, sent some servants to search for her. It was highly important that she was found. Who else was there to bring Nefera the sun?! Nobody, correct.

Meanwhile, she opened Cleo's closet and decided which dresses she should… uhm… 'borrow'. They all looked better on Nefera and Cleo didn't deserve them anyway.

Back at the Gorgon household, Cleo and Deuce were vacuuming… or, more accurately, Deuce was vacuuming, while Cleo watched from various pieces of furniture around the house and occasionally moved things out of the way for Deuce when asked.

When the task was completed, Cleo wiped imaginary sweat from her brow. "Well, that was _exhausting_. Is it over? There are no more chores, right?"

"Well, I'll probably have the dishes to do later, but that can wait." Deuce replied, wrapping an are around his ghoulfriend "So, what did you wanna do?"

"Since you _ask_ , I'd really like to go to the maul. Will you be my chaperone?"

Deuce knew exactly what that meant - carrying bags. And probably paying for half of whatever she was planning on buying. But she'd had a tough time this summer, so he was cool with it.

For Nefera, it was a terror-ible day. Her father wanted to be all alone, her nail broke and one of the servants seriously told her a compliment twice! Why was it Nefera who always had to go through such painful phases of unlife? She was completely exhausted and upset and the people around her were too dumb to make her feel better.

When there was a servang giving her a massage, the crown princess decided to go to the maul. Why actually not? Everybody needed to see that Cleo's dresses looked much better on Nefera than on Cleo.

So, with ten servants and several credit cards, Nefera made her way to the maul. The servants should be happy now that they were able to spend their day with her. It was absolutely pleasing to be around Nefera… In her own opinion at least.

But the other opinions did not matter anyway and everybody should be happy today because there was a beautiful superstar going to the maul — Queen Nefera de Nile.

Cleo and Deuce had decided to walk to the maul, with the plan of calling Deuce's mother for a lift back once they were finished. "So… what are we shopping for, anyway?" Deuce asked as they made their way there.

"Oh, you know; shoes, jewellery, night light, iCoffin…"

"Woah, hold up. Didn't your Dad block your credit cards when he grounded you? How are you gonna pay for a new iCoffin?" He very much hoped that she didn't say 'because you'll buy it for me.'

"Well, I still have a little cash from my last allowance, before school ended."

"How much is 'a little'?"

"Just a couple of thousand."

Deuce stopped in his tracks "A couple of _thousand_?"

"I know, it's a pittance, really. But I'll make do."

Making it to the maul, Cleo dragged Deuce into of her favorite stores, deeply inhaling the mixed scents of the perfume department while Deuce held his breath and waited for them to pass by it. It was here that Cleo found an absolutely golden scarab necklace that would be perfect for the back-to-ghoul design she had been working on.

As they were about to leave the store, however, Cleo spotted a limo and entourage that she recognized as being her sister's, and pulled Deuce hurriedly into the next store, hoping that Nefera didn't notice them.

"Cleo, what are we–"

" _Shhh!_ " she cut him off, peering out from the shop's window display to check on what her sister was doing. "Nefera's here, and she…" she looked again "… she's wearing one of _MY DRESSES_!"

Nefera was right in one of the clothing stores. It was her servants' task to tell her how good she looked in all of these clothes.

Sadly, Nefera's mood soon was ruined when one of the servants didn't pay attention to Nefera's needs. UNBELIEVABLE!

Nefera was sure to punish him as soon as they reached their home again.

They all walked out of the store, Nefera, who was angry now, at the front. When the crown princess turned her head, she saw HER SISTER and THE BOYFRIEND OF HERS! Oh my Ra! What in Ra's name where they doing in the maul?!

Nefera was shocked! She waited for Cleo's reaction.

Cleo saw her sister looking straight at her and quickly moved out from behind the display, grabbing Deuce and walking as quickly as possible to a different part of the maul without having to run.

"I think she saw us… Just, act natural, pretend we don't know she's here." she told Deuce, honestly panicking more about it than he was and ducking into the nearest shoe store.

But it was too late. Nefera walked towards them, followed by the ten servants she forced… uhm… TOOK with her. The princess didn't know if she should be angry or amused, but the fact that Cleo was hiding from her sister like a little baby made her feel amused and superior.

Nefera smirked when she stood in front of her panicing sister and her boyfriend. "Look who's here. The baby and the slacker." She laughed.

Ahhhhhh~ What a funny joke! Everyone who didn't laugh would be punished later. Nefera hated to always be around idiots who obviously didn't know what and who was funny!

Deuce's snakes hissed loudly and bared their fangs at Nefera. Cleo clutched onto Deuce's arm, partially to feel protected and partially to stop Deuce from taking off his shades and causing a scene.

"Fancy seeing you here, Nefera." Cleo said, determined not to be put down by her sister in puplic. "Looking for something to wear to your modelling audition?" _instead of walking around in my clothes_.

Nefera tried not to focus on Deuce. He was a dumb slacker who didn't deserve to live anyway.

"Fancy seeing YOU here, you little baby. Didn't father forbid you to go out? And didn't he forbid you to be with that loser?!"

Nefera was obviously as angry as Deuce. She looked at him and said something to make herself appear superior… Yelled, to be exact.

"One wrong word from you, slacker, and I am going to call my father and tell him everything!"

Her voice became quieter as she turned back to Cleo. "We don't want daddy to know the horror-ible things that are happening behind his back, do we?" She made a fake smile.

Cleo laughed at Nefera's threat. "You really think I just snuck out of the house to come shopping with Deuce?" Had her sister really not noticed all of the packed bags when she found her that morning? "Were you expecting me to come back home quietly this evening and pretend nothing had happened? After everything you've done to me this summer? I'm not coming back, Nefera, so you can tell Daddy whatever you like about seeing me here today."

These words made Nefera angry. Who did Cleo think she was?!

"What?!" Nefera didn't know if she should yell at Cleo or laugh about the fact that she left the house just to be away from her sister.

Nefera decided to do the second thing. It made her appear superior and maybe Cleo would regret what she had said.

After the laugher, Nefera continued talking to Cleo. "You seriously snuck out just because of me? ME?" The princess laughed again.

"That really shows how much of a baby you are, Cleo. And thank you for reminding me. I can tell daddy everything I want? Amazing! I'm sure he won't be pleased at all. Maybe he'll completely forbid you to live with us?"

Nefera had to laugh when she thought of that. This scenario was amazing! Just what Nefera had wanted all the time!

She made a fake smile. "I will go home now and talk to daddy. I am sure, there's much he needs to know! Are you okay with that?" :)

No matter what Cleo told her sister now, Nefera would talk to her father anyway. She just had said that to hear a response she could laugh at!

Cleo clenched her fists and turned on her heel, storming off out of the store to stop herself from doing or saying anything that she regretted.

Deuce stayed behind, seriously considering stoning the ghoul; but wouldn't that just give Nefera more to say when she _un_ -stoned? and wouldn't that just make things even worse for Cleo?

He settled for glaring at her through his tinted lenses instead, his snakes reacting to the negative feelings he had towards Nefera by lunging forwards with their fangs out, before he clicked his fingers at them to snap them out of it and went in search of his ghoul.

Cleo was sat outside the coffin bean with her arms crossed and a pout on her face. "Call your mother, Deuce." she said, seeing him approaching "I suddenly don't feel like shopping today."

"Are you sure, Cleo? I mean, you shouldn't let your sister get you down like that. We might not even see her again, the maul's pretty big…"

"Not big _enough_."

Deuce sighed and slid into the seat next to his ghoulfriend. "Okay then," he took his iCoffin out from his pocket and set it on the table between them. "You have two choices: you can call my Mom, go home now, and let your sister win. _Or_ , I can go inside and order you a hot tea, and we'll stay here and do your shopping, and show Nefera she _isn't_ queen yet."

Cleo made a show of 'considering her options' before nudging the iCoffin back towards Deuce. "Buy me a slice of strawscary scream cake and we have a deal."


	19. Of Short, Split-Screen Interludes

Nefera stood there, laughing. YES! SHE HAD WON! What idiots!

The princess immediately had the servants bring her home. The things she had to tell Ramses were extremely important and Nefera didn't want to let her father wait.

On the way to the palace, Nefera imagined thousands of things. What exactly should she tell her father? What would anger him the most?

When they finally arrived, Nefera immediately knocked on her father's door.

"Who's here?"

"It's me, daddy! I have something shocking to tell you!"

Ramses sighed. Hopefully it didn't have anything to do with Cleo. Where was she anyway? "You can come in, daughter."

When Nefera entered the room, she made a huge drama out of the whole situation. She acted like having a heart attack.

"YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHO I JUST MET AT THE MAUL, DADDY!"

Deuce was completely right, some retail therapy was just what she needed - and not a single bandage of Nefera's in sight!

They were now on their way back to Deuce's with a trunk full of mid-season sale shoes, and of course the ever important night light (which Deuce had offered to buy, because he's a sweetie).

Cleo was unboxing her new iCoffin in the back of Ms. Gorgon's car. It was, of course, the latest model of iCoffin available, but unlike her previous phones this one was a pre-paid, non-contract cell, so for the first time in her unlife Cleo was going to have to be careful about the amount of time she spent on the phone with her ghouls.

The first order of business: text every number important enough that Cleo remembered it and inform them of her new number. Next: insist that everyone phone _her_. Problem solved.

She had almost finished adding everyone back into her contacts list when they arrived, leaving the vehicle with her iCoffin still in hand while Deuce retrieved the bags. She wasn't being entirely unreasonable, though. After all, she _did_ take the boxed night light from him, carrying it to the door herself while she continued to add names to her phone with the other hand.

When Medusa opened the door for them, Cleo and Deuce headed straight upstairs to Cleo's guest room with the ghoul's purchases. Setting the nightlight and iCoffin down on the bed, Cleo immediately started to go through all of her other shopping bags, showing off everything she had just bought to her boyfiend, even though he _had_ just been out shopping with her, and he _had_ therefore already seen everything.

Ramses sighed even if he was a bit surprised. "Who did you meet, daughter?"

"CLEO AND HER BOYFRIEND! They are together again! They just went to the maul to have fun and waste YOUR money there! Cleo didn't care about anything you told her, daddy!

She said she didn't care about us and her boyfriend was totally rude to me! He wanted to stone me, I saw it! That boy has no manners at all! He… He wanted to hurt me, daddy!

Cleo left the house without telling ANYONE about it! Just to be with her boyfriend! She lives with him now. And she doesn't want to come back! She hates us now!

Cleo is completely out of control and her boyfriend is dangerous and aggresive! Cleo brings shame and emabarrassment on OUR family! The people think that our family is crazy, father! Just because of Cleo! And that slacker of a boyfriend she is together with!"

Nefera was both whiny and angry. The perfect match to make Ramses believe everything! Well, Nefera wasn't even lying… Okay, a bit maybe. A LITTLE bit.

"… And _these_ are going to look absolutely dynastic paired with the outfit I'm working on for the first day of school!" Cleo said, finally getting to the last pair of shoes from her shopping haul. "I'm putting these ones on _right now_. They need breaking in if I'm going to wear them comfortably around Monster High."

Deuce made a noise of agreement. He loved Cleo, but he just wasn't all that interested in her shoe obsession. Plus, he was busy thinking about other things. "What do you think Nefera said to your dad?"

Cleo was a little startled. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you said she could tell him anything. What do you thing she said?"

"Nothing _good_ , I'm sure." She stood up from the bed, getting used to the 'new shoe' feel. "Whatever it was, I'm sure I can deal with it. Daddy will probably make a phone call here, ask a few questions, I'll give a few answers… "

"Well, okay then babe, if you're cool with handling it." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and wrapped his arm around her waist, walking her out of the room.

"Oh, don't worry about me, Deucey~ I'm sure everything will be fine."


	20. Of Angry Phone Calls

Oh, it was definitely not long until a call reached the Gorgon household. The telephone was in Deuce's room and by looking at the display, Cleo already knew who was calling her. She picked up the phone. The younger princess didn't need to say anything, it was her father who started talking… uhm… yelling.

"CLEO!"

Ramses wasn't angry, no, he was insanely furious. What had his daughter done?! What had gone through her mind?! Was she insane?! Out of control?! Yes, she was. And only because of that snakey-haired boy which name Ramses refused to remember. It was all his fault!

Ramses was sure that he would talk to Deuce too. Maybe even to his mother, if she raised her son like that! That boy was not allowed to see Cleo and Ramses had no problem with sending 10, 100, or even 1000 servants to the Gorgon household to pick Cleo up. It was an emergency.

Cleo held the phone away from her ear as his voice came booming down the line. "Uhm, hi, Daddy." she said nervously, putting the phone on speaker for Deuce to hear. She may have been over exaggerating a little when she had told her boyfriend that she could handle the conversation with her father. Now that she actually had to talk to him, she suddenly felt very insecure.

Ramses continued his yelling. "Your sister came back from the maul and do you know who she saw?! YOU AND THAT SNAKEY-HAIRED BOY! TOGETHER! I forbid you to meet him and I forbid you to go out!

Who do you think you are to break my rules?! What went through your mind?! I did not raise you like that! Nobody did! That boy you waste your time on is an obstacle! How often did I say that to you, huh?! How often?!

YOU WILL COME HOME NOW! IMMEDIATELY!"

Ramses waited for his daughter's reaction. She was in trouble and at home, there was just more trouble waiting for her. But Cleo didn't dare to imagine the things that would happen if she refused to do what her father said.

Also, Ramses was going to talk to Deuce. Right when he was done with his daughter. Such a behavior was NOT tolerated! How was that boy raised?!

"I'm sorry, daddy but…" she took a deep breath and continued more confidently "But I'm _not_ coming back. I agree with you that I need to focus more on my school performance, I never disagreed with you on that, but I want to do that _at Monster High_ , with my friends, and my boyfriend." Cleo looked over at Deuce with a small smile, waiting for his no doubt furious response.

Ramses voice became quieter…

"What did I just hear?! You did not say you won't come back, did you, daughter?

Fine."

…And louder again.

"You WILL come back! As long as I am your father, it is me, AND ONLY ME, who decides what you have to do!

I will send several servants to that boy's house if you don't immediately excuse for your rude behavior and tell me that you will come back home now!"

Ramses was deadly serious. The servants would pick his stubborn daughter up, no matter how many of them were needed and how long it would take!

Cleo fumbled over her words, her confidence completely gone. Deuce immediately took the phone from her, deciding it was time to stand up for his ghoul. "Dude, she said she _doesn't_ wanna go back, so step off." Cleo shook her head, trying to take the phone back before her boyfriend said anything else to make her dad any angrier. He meant well, he really did. But he needed to stop.

Deuce moved to keep the phone out of Cleo's reach, ignoring the hint completely "Maybe if you really wanted her to come home, you'd actually act like a _dad_ and not a _dictator_."

Ramses couldn't believe it! What was happening?! Who did this boy think is?!

"YOUNG MAN! Cleo is MY daughter and your influence on her is anything but good! Learn respect, slacker! Don't you have any manners?!"

If this was going to be an emergency, Ramses would clearly send his people. This is NOT how a half-god should be treated! Especially not by a 16 year old slacker who thought he actually deserved Ramses' daughter! Pah!

" _My_ influence? What about _your_ influence? You keep telling Cleo to be a leader, so let her make her own decisions for once."

Cleo managed to snatch the phone away from Deuce at that point, laughing awkwardly as she turned the speaker off and put it up to her ear. "Hi Daddy, it's me again… can't I just stay here until Nefera goes to her modelling audition?"

Sadly for Cleo, Ramses was way angrier than before.

"Argh! Your boyfriend is a pain! I can't believe that you are spending your time with THIS boy! I knew he was lazy and uncivilized, but I did not know he was also rude and uneducated!

And Cleo?! You will come home now! Immediately! I am hugely disappointed! You failed me, Cleo! You failed me very, very badly!

Luckily, I still have your sister with me, who is neither rude to her parents, nor together with an uncivilized commoner!

Now, hurry up! None of us has time for your stupid games!"

With 'none of US', Ramses, of course, meant himself and his oh-so-perfect daughter Nefera, who was standing next to Ramses, with a giant smirk on her face.

Ahhhhh~ Finally Cleo got what she deserved!

There he went again, comparing Cleo to her sister, just like old times. She was more angry now than afraid. "Well then if Nefera is so wonderful, then you don't need _me_ around with all of my imperfections _anyway_!"

What was that supposed to mean?! Again, Ramses needed to yell at his youngest daughter. She WOULD come back because Ramses was her father and the person who decided whatever his daughters did!

"CLEO!"

That was enough! Talk was unworthy of Ramses and his greatness, so he decided to hang up. He was going to send some of his servants to Deuce's house. It was their order to bring Cleo back home!

Cleo flung herself at her boyfiend. "Hide me Deuce!"

He tilted her head up so that she was looking at him "It can't be that bad, can it? So yeah, he'll send a couple servants to come and get you; I'll open the door, take off my shades, and–"

"And WHAT? Make a nice temporary lawn ornament? Until he sends another _fifty_ servants, with _mirrors_." She raised her hand to her forehead in a dramatic display "It's no use, I'm going to be forced back there no matter what!" She opened her eyes suddenly, an idea having come to her. "So maybe I _should_ go with them. _Willingly_."

"What? But I thought you didn't wanna go?"

"I don't," she said with a sly look on her face, "but I think it's time for some of my 'teenage magic'."


	21. Of Making Lists

It was definitely not long until the servants arrived. There were 10 of them, ready for anything and everything!

They knocked on the door, waiting for the attack they thought Deuce had planned; what did greet them when the door opened, however, was Cleo, stood waiting with all of her luggage, including that day's shopping haul. "What took you so long?" she asked, handing one of her bags to the servant who had knocked. She really did hope that her plan worked when she got home, because otherwise this all would had been a royal mistake.

The servants were quite surprised when they saw how Cleo reacted. That was not what they had expected, but, okay, it just made the whole situation a lot easier.

…Especially after playing the compliment-game with Nefera for 3 straight hours. Some of the servants had been punished for telling a compliment twice, so they were in no fight-mood today.

They brought Cleo home as fast as they could because Ramses had been both furious and impatient. Making him wait any longer would be anything but good, and Nefera surely waited for them to come back too. She needed adoration, attention, compliments and approval just like a drug and Ramses had clearly been in no mood to give her some of it. Not today. Not after the telephone conversation with… that uneducated slacker without any respect!

When Cleo and the servants entered the palace, Ramses was, of course, already standing there, waiting for his daughter. Nefera was, as usual, by his side. She had a smirk on her face, waiting for the fight that was hopefully going to happen.

Standing in front of her father and sister, Cleo looked straight up at her dad's face - or, what was visible of it from beneath his bandages. "I'm sorry for leaving, Daddy, I should have known better."

"Is that all you have to say?!"

Don't overreact, Ramses, don't overreact…

"And… you were completely right. I should stay here, and focus on bettering myself as a de Nile. Obviously, it's up to you to decide how I should be punished for disobeying you…" she looked towards her sister "…. But I think perhaps I should help Nefera prepare for her audition, and maybe accompany her there? I have a lot to learn from her, and I'm sure she will lead be example; you are still going to your appointment, aren't you, Nefera?"

Nefera, who had been impatiently waiting for her sister to be punished, didn't like this question at all! The appointment with the agency was in three days, and Nefera did not prepare for it at all. Right when she had heard that she had to go to an audition again, Nefera knew that she couldn't possibly go there. She maybe wouldn't win, and failing was something she could not deal with. Not again.

Nefera was highly afraid of meeting to this agency. What if there was a model better than her? Taller? Prettier? Skinnier? She could impossibly risk that.

Nefera was unable to show any weaknesses or, Ra forbid, FLAWS. Especially not in front of her father. So she couldn't voice her true feelings about this appointment. She had to lie… Again.

Nefera was living in a world full of lies anyway. She didn't notice the fact that this false self was something she just made up in her little dream world. Sadly, nobody did…

"Of course I am! But I don't want you there! It is only for true models and I am still pained by the way you and Deuce have hurt me again."

What was Nefera talking about? She had probably made up another scenario or lie in her head, and now she believed it. Again and again. That's always how it was.

"But we didn't–" Cleo cut herself off, remembering that her father was listening, and that he certainly wasn't on her side in this. "Well, Daddy, what will you have me do?"

Ramses held Nefera back from pulling the 'I-could-have-died'-card. Just like Ramses, his eldest daughter liked to overreact badly. We didn't want her to faint again, did we?

"Cleo! I am certain that you did not understand the seriousness of this situation at all. No lectures will help you, because you will not listen and break my rules anyway. You enjoy doing that, don't you?

Yelling at you will not work either, because you do not seem to care about my opinion and rules. You do not understand what you did wrong, daughter, did you?

You would just go out to that slacker again and waste your time with him, not caring about me, your sister or the fact that commoners are extremely low on the pyramid.

Your task is to go to your room and write everything you did wrong. Everything! 'I ran away from home and that was wrong.' 'I did not listen to my father and that was wrong.' 'I refused to accept the rules my father had made and that was wrong.' There is much more you will have to write.

And to make sure that you will listen to me this time, I will send at least two servants to your room. They will be there. Always. You will break up with that boy and you will not go to Monster High again. I will make that clear. Your sister will go to her audition alone and you and the servants will go to your room again and do what I told you to. I want to see the results when you are done with accepting your mistakes.

Understood?"

"Completely."

Cleo followed the two supervisory servants back to her room, with the several carrying her bags in tow. With the new iCoffin she had just bought, she was made to call Deuce, again. Her precise words this time round were "My father isn't going to allow me to date you, or go back to Monster High." which wasn't _exactly_ a breakup, but it was close enough to not get her in trouble.

Then of course it was time for the list.

She started out just as her father had said; _'I ran away from home, disregarding my punishment, and that was wrong.' 'I did not listen to my father or sister and that was wrong.' 'I refused to abide by the rules my father had made and that was wrong._ '

But it wasn't long until her essay transcended into something else entirely, writing instead things like, _'I thought that I might be able to date someone that I liked and have him accepted, but I was very wrong, because obviously a princess is not allowed to love someone below her station and can only be with someone that her father approves of in terms of wealth and royal upbringing.'_ and _'I wanted to continue on at Monster High, thinking that perhaps I could both continue with my education and build up a social repertoire of monsters who would one day no doubt big big names, but I was wrong about wanting to do this because they are all just commoners who will never amount to anything and will only hold me back from my own studies and royal expectations of future unlife.'_

By the time she had finished writing, the pages were practically dripping with sarcasm, but she had done as he had asked, hasn't she? And being the very serious man that he was, her father would no doubt read Cleo's words as literal admissions of her guilt anyway. She handed it to one of the servants to take to Ramses with no shame over what she had written.


	22. Of Angrier Phone Calls

It was not long until the servant came back in. This time, HE had an order. The servant said that Ramses wanted Cleo to come downstairs into his office. Ramses obviously wanted to talk to his daughter again!

Cleo followed the entourage of servants to her father's work room. She must have offended him. _Sphinx_.

The plan had been to try and get back into the good books, and maybe spewing out all of her feelings towards her father's rulings on paper hadn't been such a good idea after all, in hindsight. It had just seemed like such a huge release at the time, being able to write everything down that was troubling her, even if it was in the most passive-aggressive way possible.

When Cleo came into her father's office, Ramses was (as always) sitting on his throne. He had Cleo's list in his bony hands and showed, as expected, no feelings at all.

"Sit down daughter," Ramses said as dark and strict as ever. It was not easy to tell if he was angry or not.

When Cleo sat down, Ramses showed her the list she had written. He continued talking to his daughter in a quiet, but dark and emotionless way.  
It was almost scary… And really, not in a good way.

"What do you think that is? A joke?"

So he had read it the way she'd written it. Time for a quick save.

"O-of course not, Daddy. You do always say that Deuce and everyone at Monster High will only ever be good for holding me back. I haven't been listening lately, so I wrote it down."

Well, she wasn't _lying_ , exactly…

Ramses felt like Cleo was making fun of his decisions. That was something he did not like at all. Ramses was a strict parent, so he had no problem with ending some of Cleo's relationships. As her father and a past Pharaoh, he knew what was best after all!

"You obviously have problems with listening to me, daughter. I will help you improving that."

Ramses plan was to, first, call Ms. Gorgon and tell her that she was unable to raise her son, that Deuce was way too common for Cleo and that Ramses would forbid every contact to the Gorgon Family.

Next, he would call the school to tell them that Cleo was going to leave.

His daughter, who obviously did not listen to Ramses at all, should be punished by listening to her father ending the relationship to her boyfriend and her ghoulfriends.

Yes, it was really going THAT far.

"… Yes, daddy."

There was really nothing else to say right now. Her father had always been incredibly strict as it was, and nothing was going to change his mind about punishing her now.

Cleo did not know what her father had in mind when he grabbed the telephone. Ramses asked one of the servants for the phone number of the Gorgon household. The servant, who had a phone book in his hand, told Ramses Deuce's phone number in no time.

Cleo was afraid. Deuce's phone number? What was happening?

Cleo sat in silent panic. There was only one thing he _could_ be doing with her boyfriend's number.

The phone rang for a short time before a voice came through from the other end of the line. "Εμπρός? Gorgon residence." it was Deuce's mother, Medusa.

Ramses, who was not the best at speaking Greek, refused to try to understand Medusa's words. The only thing the past Pharaoh had realized was, in fact, how rude he, as a half-god, had just been greeted. That perfectly showed that no monster in this uncivilized family had any manners!

"Am I speaking to Medusa Gorgon?" Ramses asked in a deep, cold, almost angry, voice.

He would not say who he was until the commoner on the other line behaved and greeted him appropriately.

Medusa pursed her lips together with an audible 'tch' sound and continued in a more unfriendly tone, obviously unimpressed by the route this conversation was taking, even in such an early stage of the call. "You are. I assume that this is Mr. Ramses de Nile?"

"Correct. I am (wasting my time and…) calling you because there is something important that needs to be said.

My daughter Cleo de Nile will no longer see your son. I forbid it. Your son is, in fact, an uncivilized, common boy with no manners at all. He is rude, lazy and everything a De Nile does not need. That boy is neither allowed to enter my palace, nor talk to one of my daughters ever again. He is an obstacle for Cleo and her education.

I hope you understand that my daughter, as someone from royal birth, needs someone… BETTER by her side."

Ramses decided to let the you-are-unable-to-raise-your-son-part out of it, for now. Maybe he would bring it up later, depending on Medusa's reaction.

Medusa's snakes could be heard hissing angrily in the background of the phone call. "I'm sure you have your daughter's best interests at heart, but don't you think this is going a bit too far? After all, wasn't it also your glorious idea to try and have every monster in town join together against the Normies? And of course we all know how well that went."

Ramses felt highly offended. The fact that a commoner was talking this way to a half-god was a solid proof that the people these days had no respect at all! Didn't they know who Ramses was?!

"Excuse me, but my opinions and ideas are none of your business! You better raise your lazy son and teach him appropriate behaviour before you talk to me in such a manner!"

"I will talk to you however I please. I have raised my son to respect other monsters, and to work for the things he wants in life, so how _dare_ you call him lazy or disrespectful! Deuce has done nothing wrong towards you or your daughter, and as far as I am concerned she is welcome to my house whenever she _damn_ wishes."

"You will talk to me however you please?! I do not think so! I am royalty and you, as nothing more than a lowly commoner, should be more than glad to have had my daughter around your son! He has a bad influence on her! The last thing I want is my daughter to act like a peasant!

I have also heard that your son has acted disrespectful towards my daughter Nefera. May I remind you that she is next in line to MY throne?! She will be queen someday, something you commoners can only dream of!"

He slammed his fist against the desk. That and the fact that Ramses was yelling didn't make Cleo feel good at all.

"First, I was surprised about that boy's behavior but not anymore since I have talked to his rude mother!

You will have a problem if you don't take that slacker of son away from my daughters! Do you finally understand that?!"

Medusa laughed, "Oh please, I'm hardly some pauper. Deuce would have no such effect on Cleo."

She may not have descended from royalty in the way that the de Niles had, but Medusa's own scaritage hailed back to the ancient sea deities Phorkys and Keto, gods from before even the age of Olympians. Of course, Ramses was far too self-absorbed to know such a thing, or to care if he did know.

"I could say similar things about you and your daughter, Nefera - I wasn't sure that some of the stories I had heard about her were entirely true until having the pleasure to speak to you today. Perhaps you should tell her to mind her own royal business rather than interfearing with other people's love lives." her snakes hissed together in chorus, as if agreeing with her.

"You may have been the ruler of Egypt once, but you're no king here. Whatever power you think you might have her in Salem, you don't threaten me. I would love to continue this conversation in person. Settle this face to face, _eye_ to _eye_.

Give my condolences to Cleo for having to live with the two of you."

There was a click of the phone being shut off, and then dial tone. Medusa Gorgon had obviously had more than enough of Ramses' condescending attitude.

Ramses couldn't believe it! He was right about telling Medusa what a horrible person she was before she ended the conversation. No respect, no manners, no nothing! She wasn't even brave enough for continuing the conversation! That was a clear sign for Ramses that it was him who was right… Again. Because as gods' present to this world, he was always right anyway!

Nor did Medusa excuse for her behavior! What insolence! Ramses slammed the phone back on its place, talking to his daughter, who was still sitting in front of him.

"Cleo! The mother of that boy is worse than her son! I am glad that we are no longer in contact with such uncivilized, rude people! They did not know what they were saying! Insulting me and my daughters?! Pah! Peasants! Back in MY kingdom, they would have died if I wanted them to!"

"Oh definitely, daddy. No one speaks to you like that!" and that was true enough, they didn't.

With the phone call over, Cleo thought that now might be a good time to make her exit. She stood from her chair slowly, addressing her father "Well, I should really be going back to my room now, I have a _lot_ of unpacking to do."

Ramses was still angry, but there was one thing he wanted to know from his daughter. His voice became quieter, he stopped yelling.

"Cleo, daughter. Why did you run away from home? What does that boy have that your family can't give you?"

Of course, Ramses knew that he was flawless and a great father. It could impossibly be his fault, but there had to be something that wasn't right. Was Cleo sad about being his daughter? Was it too much pressure set on her? Why did she run away? Ramses loved her more than anything! More than that slacker ever could!

Cleo bit her lip, thinking how best to reply. Could she tell her father that she had been slowly driven to it over the summer by her sister?

"It was nothing you did, Daddy, if that's what you mean. I just… wanted the freedom to choose my own school, and my own boyfriend. I was still going to study and try hard, I really was, I just wanted to do it at Monster High. And Deuce… well, he never once chastised me for not being exactly like Nefera. I could be my own person, with my own interests, and I guess I left for that too."

She looked into her father's eyes, hoping that he would understand and not be offended. "I've tried to be like Nefera in the past, I really have, but the truth is it didn't work out the way I thought it would. I'm happier being myself. I don't want to disappoint you, Daddy, I just… I'll never be exactly like my sister."

Cleo's words made her father feel a bit offended, but also disappointed and kind of sad. It was hard to describe, really.

"Your sister was able to be a good student. She did well in Monster High. There was nothing and nobody bothering her. And that was because she exactly knew, and still knows, that some monsters are nothing more than obstacles. Just like that boy.

I cannot give you that much freedom, daughter, because I want you to have success. As much success as your sister had and still has. Control is important, Cleo. Don't you think so?

The conversation with that boy's mother let me know why your ex boyfriend is like that. His mother did not give him a good example. She is unable to raise and educate her son. That is what I call bad parenting.

"Also, talking about your sister, she was really concerned about what had happened. I do not want to hear a single bad word out of your mouth about her, Cleo! Your sister might not show it, but she cares for you. Deeply. More than that slacker ever could!"

"… Yes, daddy."

Cleo hung her head as she made her way out of the study and back to her room to start on unpacking. It had taken a lot of courage to speak to her father like she had, which was why she rarely did it. Obviously it hadn't been worth the effort. there was no way she was going to bring up Nefera's sabotaging schemes now.

Throwing the doors to her walk-in wardrobe open wide, Cleo started putting away all of the things she had taken with her, and organizing space for the new shoes she had bough in the Maul sale. there were noticeable gaps in parts of her clothing collection, particularly the dresses. _Nefera_. But no, of course, nothing bad was allowed to be said about _her_.

Unzipping the wheeled suitcase, Cleo was faced with her unfinished back-to-ghoul outfit. She scrunched it up out of frustration and threw it as far back in the closet as she could. No point in finishing her dress if no one was ever going to see it anyway.


	23. Of Being Blamed for Everything

Cleo was pretty surprised when she saw something golden in it after opening one of her suitcases. Was that… Azura?!

It was!

She had been in the suitcase all the time, burried under several dresses! Cleo put the scarab out of the bag and saw that Azura was not moving. A feeling of panic overcame her.

This was the second time in as many days that the tiny beetle had almost died, and Cleo was determined, for her own well being if nothing else, to make sure that it wasn't for real this time either.

She lay Azura down on the side table on her back, pressing lightly on her belly in a miniature resuscitation attempt.

Azura was still not moving.

There was absolutely no luck on Cleo's side because, only a few seconds later, the princess heard steps in front of her door.

It was Nefera who wanted to… 'talk' to her sister. She hoped for being able to cause more trouble in her sister's unlife.

Yesss, it was Nefera's (new) goal to make Cleo leave Monster High, her boyfriend, and all of her friends. Because without these things, Nefera had no need to feel that secret envy towards her sister that she always felt. Maybe then Nefera's unlife would finally better itself.

Also, if Nefera didn't have friends and/or a boyfriend, nobody else was allowed to have these things either. It was forbidden… In Nefera's own dream world at least.

Cleo spun round to see her sister striding across the room and stood blocking Nefera's view of her pet lying on the table with a huge, entirely fake, smile plastered on her face. "Oh hi, Nefera. How are things~?"

Nefera smirked. "Oh, are we back, hm?" She made a fake smile. Not only because their dad was angry and disappointed, but also because he has said that Cleo was not allowed to keep the things she shopped in the maul. Maybe Nefera could keep them? :) They looked better on her anyway, and for being such a nice person, Nefera really deserved thousands of gifts! So, why not take stuff from Cleo?

"You already knew I was, Nefera." Cleo retorted. "How is preparing for your audition going?"

"Pah!"

Nefera, whose good mood was gone after that question, pushed Cleo aside and stormed into the room. She didn't notice that there was a not-moving scarab beetle on the desk, because Nefera clearly focused on Cleo's closet. She opened it, ignoring her panicing sister in the background. Now she searched for stuff, especially dresses, to…borrow.

No, not borrow, TAKE. Cleo was a cold-hearted, emotionless monster that deserved to feel sad for being so mean. To Nefera, it seemed like her sister enjoyed destroying her day and/or mood. That was totally rude. Cleo was evil and had no soul.

… Which was precisely how Cleo felt about her own sister. "What are you doing in my closet Nefera? Didn't you already take enough of my clothes today?"

"Be quiet!" Nefera yelled, not looking at her sister. "It is me who deserves these clothes! They look ugly on you, just like everything else!"

She took out one of Cleo's dresses. "I hope Deuce didn't touch that yet. Being touched by a commoner would make me feel gross."

"Deuce has probably touched everything in that wardrobe, Nefera. I always get him to hold onto things for me while I'm browsing. Or… I did. I'm sure you've heard the news." Yes, _past_ tense, Cleo. That was something she was going to have to get used to. Again. Indefinitely, this time.

"Ew!" Nefera said, throwing Cleo's dress to the ground. "Gross!"

She turned to the mirror Cleo had on the wall and let her hand go through her long, teal hair. "Luckily, Daddy forbid him to come here. Breathing next to him is disgusting."

As if that wasn't already enough, Nefera started talking about Deuce in a way, even meaner than before. "Deuce doesn't even deserve air."

It was a wonder that Nefera was in Cleo's room for several minutes without noticing Azura, who was still not moving at all. Nefera was busy looking in the mirror, touching her thin waist and the beautiful curves she had. Nefera was a god-like person. She was absolutely flawless… At least she kept saying that.

"You don't think _anyone_ deserves air but you, Nefera." Cleo made an attempt to swipe the beetle off of the table without her sister seeing her. At least it might buy her some more time to try and figure out what was wrong with her.

Honestly, Cleo's sentence was pretty true, but she shouldn't have said it, because it was exactly that one sentence that made Nefera turn around in anger. Suddenly, she saw her pet scarab beetle.

"AZURA!"

Cleo looked down at the unmoving bug in her hand and back up at her sister with a nervous smile. "Oh, yes, _Azura_. You know, I think she's resting right now. It's been a very long day, especially for someone her size, I'm sure she's _exhausted_."

Nefera, who was always overreacting in every situation, was shocked. She yelled at her sister, who was unable to do ANYTHING right. "Exhausted?! What in Ra's name did you do to her?!"

Maybe Nefera should invent the rumor that her sister's new hobby was murdering innocent, tiny creatures. It would surely be funny. Cleo deserved that because she was totally evil. She felt no empathy, not even for Azura, who was totally helpless. When would Cleo finally stop being so cold-hearted?

"I just found her in my suitcase like this! I didn't even _know_ she came with me!" Cleo retorted angrily. Why did her sister always have to make everything _her_ fault? And even if Azura was dead, insects have an incredibly short lifespan; it was probably entirely natural. After all, wasn't this Azura VII? Azura XVIII? Nefera would get a new beetle, she always did.

That was right, actually, Nefera did not care. But we all know how she is.

"DAAAAAAAADDY! CLEO BRUTALLY MURDERED MY POOR, INNOCENT AZURA!"

It would only take Ramses some seconds to come into Cleo's room and punish her more than he already did. What was the smartest thing to do now? Well, actually, 'smartest' didn't really come into it. Still clutching the dead scarab, Cleo's panicked response was a simple, furious yelling of:"OH MY RA NEFERA, NO I DIDN'T!"

Nefera laughed. She felt so sorry for her sister! … Oh, wait, no, she didn't. Nefera only felt sorry for herself because she was in the orbit of an evil person. Maybe Cleo had other thoughts than only killing Azura? Maybe Nefera was next!? Or maybe their father!? Maybe Cleo was a serial killer!?

Only a moment later, Ramses came in. "My daughters! What is happening?!" He was angry but you could also see that he was tired if all this stress.

Cleo turned to her father, presenting the still not moving Azura. "Azura died, daddy, and now Nefera's blaming me. Again."

Ramses sighed and shook his head in disapproval. Now it was Nefera's turn.

"Cleo killed Azura out of anger! I came here to talk to Cleo because I wanted to see her again! She was gone for so long, you know how much I've missed her, father! Cleo got totally angry because you punished her and Azura was flying around innocently when Cleo suddenly grabbed a book and hit her when she was flying! Now my poor, poor Azura is not moving anymore, daddy!"

Nefera's voice was whiny, she was one second before actually crying.

Cleo looked down and saw a biteology book that was randomly laying on the ground. Peeeeerfect…

Ramses looked in Cleo's eyes, he was extremely angry but didn't want to act too fast without thinking. "Is that true, daughter?!"

"Does Azura look _crushed_ , Daddy? Of course I didn't do that! I just found her in one of my bags and she wasn't moving!"

Ramses took a look at Nefera. She made crying noises while putting her hands in front of her face. She seemed to be sad and broken.

Ramses got closer to his older daughter, putting his hand on her shoulder. "This will have consequences," he said to Cleo as he and the sobbing Nefera walked out of the room.

The only thing they left behind was Cleo, Azura and a biteology book on the floor.


	24. Of the Interventions of Rats

Cleo set Azura down on Hissette's empty basking rock and picked the text book off of the floor, continuing with her unpacking and trying not to dwell on what her father had said. What consequences, exactly? What else could he possibly do to punish her?

As her travel bags grew empty, Cleo sat looking at Nefera's poor scarab, wondering what would be the best thing to do with her, when Azura's legs started to twitch in an attempt to right herself. She really was a lucky little resurrection bug!

Excitedly, Cleo picked Azura back up and ran from her room to go and find her father and sister, and present the good news to them.

If you wanted to find Ramses, you had to look in his office, because that's often where he was in. That was also the case this time. Right when Cleo wanted to knock on the door, she heard her father talking. He was in the middle of an important conversation.

"Cleo de Nile."

"Of course I am serious!"

"No, she will not come back to school."

"Never."

"That is none of your business!"

"I am her father and it is me who decides what's best for her!"

"Of course I can!"

"I am sure."

"She will not."

"I forbid it!"

"Thank you. Goodbye."

Right before Cleo had time to realize what her father had done, she heard his voice again. This time, Ramses was talking to someone else in his office.

"These peasants were seriously refusing to take Cleo from school! It is me who decides what she does! I am her father, nobody else!"

After Ramses yellings, Cleo heard a familiar, female voice.

"You are so right, daddy. What you did was completely correct. Cleo has crossed the border. She should be thankful to be your daughter! You are amazing, father, I love you."

Cleo lowered her hand, no longer wanting to knock on the door. She headed back to her room, passing by her sister's and leaving Azura to scurry up onto the door for Nefera to find. How could her father do this to her? Yes, there had been talk about having her home schooled again, but Cleo just couldn't believe that he had actually _called_ Headmistress Bloodgood! What chance did she have of working her way back into Ramses' favor now?

It was good that Cleo didn't come in, because an angry Ramses and a smirking Nefera were probably nothing she wanted to see in this situation.

Sadly, Cleo couldn't be alone for so long, because it was only several minutes later when Nefera came into her room. She had found Azura, who felt much better than before and sat on her owner's shoulder.

Still smirking, the crown princess said to her younger sister, "Daddy just called Headmistress Bloodgood. You won't go to school anymore." She laughed. Finally unlife was being fair!

"So I heard… even though Azura is _fine_. Why do you always have to lie about me to Daddy?"

Nefera laughed again. But not for longer than a second. She got closer to her sister, her hand went through Cleo's hair again, she acted motherly to make herself appear superior. "There are some things you don't need to know or understand, Cleo," she said darkly.

It was at that point that a furry grey rodent crawled its way up onto Cleo's shoulder, looking up at Nefera with his big brown eyes and squeaking angrily.

Nefera screamed and let go of her sister's hair as she saw the rat. Nefera found rats gross! Many servants heard the scream and it surely wouldn't take them long to come into the room.

They needed to hurry! It was an emergency! Nefera could die!

Nefera's scream startled Cleo and she turned her head to see what it was on her shoulder, screaming herself at the closeness of the rodent to her face. The rat scurried down onto the floor and started running circles around Nefera's high heels, as if he was attempting to force her out of the room. Cleo realized suddenly that she recognized the little grey furball - it was Deuce's pet, Perseus! What other rat was there that had an orange mohawk and two tails?

Nefera dramatically screamed another time. She was one second before fainting when three servants stormed into the room. One of them kept Nefera from fainting, the other two kept their eyes on Perseus and tried to catch him. They had to hurry, because a rat was the last thing the head of the household wanted to see in his palace!

Perseus did his best to dodge their attempts at catching him, rushing in and out from underneath pieces of furniture and making a break for the door, leading the servants out into the halls.

Cleo and Nefera were left alone in Cleo's room and it was of course Nefera who had to make a big show out of the whole situation again. She breathed heavily, checking her heartbeat. "I could have died," Nefera said in a quiet, weak voice. Her heart (yes, she did have one!) was beating faster than it did normally. If she would get a heart attack, it was Cleo's fault, that was sure.

"You should probably go to your own room Nefera. There could be more of those creatures in here…" Cleo outright lied to her sister. She knew full well that it was Perseus, but she doubted that he had decided to take a trip in her luggage too, so that could only mean one thing. "Or it might come back in here to try and escape whatever way it came in! And what if it has _rabies_? You're the crown princess, Nefera, it's _very_ important that you stay safe!"

Nefera was super excited, and not in a good way. She continued her heavy breathing when she called the servants. Yelled after them, to be exact. Did they really leave her?! They did! They just left her alone in a room with an aggressive killer and a deadly rat that could be everywhere!

There were several servants bringing the shocked Nefera to her room. She would not let them go, because there were probably many other things near them, trying to kill her. It was highly dangerous, maybe Nefera would not survive this attack. (At least she didn't have to go to her appointment then…)

Meanwhile, the other servants were searching for Perseus. Luckily it seemed like Ramses did not hear his daughters' screams. It was a shame if he would come up to check the situation. Perseus needed to be found! Quick!


	25. Of Secret Conversations

Cleo breathed a sigh of relief as the two servants posted to keep an eye on her at all times exchanged glances and headed out of the room to join the hunt. Left to her own devices, Cleo quickly ran to the open window and leaned out of it, confirming her suspicions when she saw Deuce stood waiting for her below.

"Deuce, what are you doing here?" Cleo whisper-shouted, still wary of any servants that may be close enough to hear their conversation. She was concerned and afraid, but at the same time incredibly glad to see her boyfiend.

"My Mom told me your dad said I can't see you any more, so I came to see you. Hi."

Cleo folded her arms on the windowsill and leaned her head on them, "Hey." she replied simply, just glad to be able to speak to Deuce again for a brief amount of time.

"So… how's the 'teenage magic' thing working?"

It seemed almost sarcastic to ask. It was obvious how 'well' Cleo's plan had gone, and she made it known with her classic 'ugh' of distress. "I don't want to talk about it. I just… I'm working on it."

Deuce decided to drop the subject. "Okay… so I'll still see you in school, right? I mean it's not like we aren't still dating, whatever your dad says."

Cleo stared at a spot on the stone work of the windowsill for a long time. "I…" she lifted her eyes back up to look at Deuce as she tried to find the words to tell him. "No, I won't see you at Monster High. I mean, yes, we are still a couple, I just…"

She didn't have to finish speaking, Deuce understood. "But your Dad won't let you come back, will he?" Silence. That was all the response he needed. "Come back to my place, Cleo, stay this time."

"Deuce I can't, that would only make things even worse." she snapped, standing back up. "I have to stay here, and do whatever it is Daddy wants to make sure he trusts me again… but I need you to do a favor for me. There are some things that need taking care of at Monster High."

"Whatever you need, babe."

"Tell _everyone_ exactly why I'm not coming back. Make sure they all know the truth, and not whatever rumors start up about me leaving. Let my people know I didn't just abandon them. Tell Frankie I want her to step in as Head Fearleader in my absence; no one has as much ghoul spirit as she does. And let Gory know that - despite everything that's happened between us - if she wants to take the position of Social Chair, then she has my full support. Do NOT let anyone vote for Howleen Wolf! She isn't ready for a role of that responsibility, and I don't think Monster High is ready for _her_ either." she counted off each item on her fingers as she went.

Deuce had to smile. It was just like Cleo to still try to control the school when she wasn't going to be there. Of course he'd do that much for her.

Perseus came darting back into the room, up onto the windowsill and down the sloped side of the wall to Deuce, who quickly picked him up. "I'll get it done for you Cleo." he said, setting down the skateboard he had tucked under his arm, ready to make his escape from the premises.

"Wait!" Cleo whisper-yelled, leaning back out of the window. As he looked back up at her, she followed her demand with, "I love you."

"Love you too, babe."

Cleo stared dreamily out of the window at her boyfriend for a short while, before the sound of numerous footsteps brought her back to reality. "What are you still doing here, Deuce? Go, before anyone realizes you were here!"

He gave a quick nod and skated his way back off the expansive property, and Cleo slammed the window shut, spinning round from it just in time to be met by a hoard of servants coming in search of the 'terrible rodent'.

"It just escaped out of the window!" she said dramatically, lifting a hand to her forehead "I closed it to make sure the foul creature wouldn't get back in, but what will I do if it does find it's way back? Oh, I would feel so much safer if I had Hissette back with me!"

The servants exchanged looks, wondering if it would be wise to allow the princess to have her pet back after the order from Ramses. One of them would obviously have to confess to him the news that there had been a rat in the building, and make the request on her behalf.

A servant left, on his way to Ramses' office. The pharaoh was busy with, guess what, his work.

About five minutes later, the servant came back from Ramses' office. He told Cleo that Ramses did not allow Cleo to get Hissette back. Instead of that, he ordered 200 servants to check the whole building for more rats. Some other servants got the order not to let Cleo and Nefera out of their sight. If there were more unpleasing creatures in this house, they needed to get killed. Ramses did not tolerate this situation. Not at all.

In hope that his daughters were fine, he went to Cleo's room himself, finding her together with some servants.

"Daughter. I have heard about the current situation. It was you who actually saw it, so, my daughter, tell me, where did this disgusting rodent come from?"

Cleo put on the most over-dramatic voice she could muster - she'd learned it from Nefera. "I don't know, daddy! I just turned my head, and it was sat their on my shoulder! On my _shoulder,_ Daddy! That… thing… touched me! I think I might need decontaminating. Who knows what foul diseases it might have been carrying." Absolutely none, in fact, because Perseus was a well-kept pet rat and the idea of rats as plague carriers was way overhyped anyway, but her father didn't need to know that.

Ramses turned to his servants. "How dare you let such a creature in my house?! If I ever see one of these things again in here, I will punish all of you!" Ramses was shouting at his servants right when another one, who hadn't been in the room before, wanted to talk to him. The servant said that there was an emergency relating to Nefera.

Ramses, Cleo and their servant walked into Nefera's room to see a big bed where 'her majesty' was laying on, and several servants around her. Cleo thought she had been very dramatical about the situation herself, but that was no comparison to the show Nefera just made.

"Father…," she said in an extremely weak voice. "I am going to die."

Cleo's draw dropped. What in Geb's name was Nefera talking about? Was she honestly faking because of Perseus?

This _had_ to be some kind of excuse to get out of the modelling appointment she was due to have in the next couple of days.

Ramses took place next to his daughter. First, he thought about taking her hand, but then remembered that he never showed emotions. "Daughter, what happened?"

"I walked into Cleo's room.. and.. and there was this grey, furry thing. I screamed and wanted Cleo to help me, but she didn't do anything! The servants didn't either! They just watched me getting attacked by this thing! I fainted and the servants needed to carry me out, this thing must have BITTEN me, daddy! I don't feel good at all! Everything is spinning!" She placed her hand on her forehead to make it extra-dramatic.

Some of the servants in the room wondered if they should say something, because that was totally NOT how it had happened. They decided that it would be smarter not to say anything.

Cleo played along with it. It wouldn't do to seem as though she was giving Perseus any sympathy. "It bit you? Oh my Ra, Nefera, I had no idea! I'm soo sorry I didn't help Nefera, I was just so scared that it might try to bite me too that I didn't know what to do! Are you going to be okay?"

Nefera was a bit surprised to hear these words out of her sister's mouth. Everyone in the room probably was. But that was of course no excuse not to continue on.. 'feeling sick'. Nefera sighed, answering her sister's question in an exhausted tone. "I think not."

Ramses was neither surprised, nor concerned. At least, he didn't show it. "Where did it bite you, Nefera?"

"Uhm.. On my neck, daddy. Just like a vampire! I feel like there's no blood in me," Nefera said weakly, trying to look pale.

It was honestly a shame that the appointment was in two days, not on this day.

Cleo rolled her eyes. A vampire rat, really? Well, if that was what Nefera was going with… "I'm so glad it didn't manage to get me, Nefera. That must have been why the rat was sat on my shoulder - if you hadn't have warned me that it was there, it might've bitten me first!"

After looking at Nefera's neck for a second, Ramses said, "There IS nothing on your neck, Nefera."

Nefera looked at her father. "But- but daddy…"

"I think you just need some rest, my daughter. You will surely feel better tomorrow." He turned to the servants. "Keep an eye on my daughter."

With these words, he left. Ramses knew most of Nefera's excuses and in his opinion, health was nothing to play with. There was nothing on Nefera's neck and as a wise man, Ramses still had the upcoming appointment in mind.

Tomorrow, Nefera would feel better and learn for her big day. She would eventually go there. And she had to be amzing, better than anybody else. Even if he had to force her! Ramses was her father and it was he who decided about her future! HE! Nobody else!


	26. Of Potentially Brighter Mornings

_Author's note:_

 _I feel that it is important to mention that this next section contains a trigger warning for anorexia. All chapters following this one that contain the same or similar themes will also be tagged._

* * *

Cleo followed behind her father, leaving Nefera in her room with several servants. Of course Nefera had been faking, and their father had seen through it this time. It was disappointing that he hadn't been more harsh on Nefera for wasting his time, but Cleo still had to smile at the fact her sister hadn't had her own way this time. "I'll go back to my room now, daddy. If I see that horrid rat again, or find out how it got in, you'll be the first to know."

"You will bot be alone, daughter. I hope you did not forget about my rules already!" It seemed like Ramses was angrier at Cleo for saying this to him than at Nefera for faking a sickness. "There will be several servants with you in your room. Always." It was silent until Ramses remembered something else his daughter had to know.

"Oh, and, Cleo? I've just called Headmistress Bloodgood. She was as rude as the other commoners, but that was not surprising. She seems to know Medusa Gorgon and I do not think anybody who is conneceted to THIS WOMAN can act respectful!

Anyway, you are going to be home schooled again after the holidays. Just like in the old days when you were a lot smaller."

Ramses did not seem to want to discuss this subject. It was something he just told his daughter because it was important for her to know. Nothing else! Ramses did not wish to be bothered by his daughters for the rest of the evening. He had much work to catch up on.

"Of course I didn't forget daddy…" she decided not to mention having overheard his phone conversation. "… I'll try my very royal best with the new mentor, Daddy. I'm sure you'll be very impressed."

"You had better do that, daughter." Ramses said darkly as he left his daughter.

Cleo followed the two servants back to her chambers for the evening. Maybe tomorrow would bring something better.

There were no more troubles happening in the evening and Cleo went to sleep.

It was a sunny morning when she woke up.

Sitting up in her bed and stretching, Cleo thought to herself that today already seemed better than the day before. She had gotten a full night's rest, without a certain someone bothering her, the new night light glowed wonderfully (she had managed to keep that from her shopping spree, at least), and the rich and wonderful scent of breakfast was already wafting in through the door to her tomb.

There was a lot of work still to be done to regain her father's approval, but today seemed like an excellent day to start.

Nefera was already awake. It was nice weather outside, so she and her father decided to eat their breakfast on the balcony. It was huge and golden, full of luxury of all kind.

The discussion Ramses and Nefera had was anything but pleasing though. It was about the appointment Nefera had tomorrow. Nefera told her father about her horrible health state and that she could not possibly go out tomorrow, but he did not seem to care.

That wasn't fair! He could be happy that she was even alive after the traumatic spectacle yesterday! Nefera felt exhausted. It was a wonder that she even survived last night! Not even the white truffles in front of her could make her feel better. Her father was so cold-hearted! Didn't he have feelings?! Nefera was feeling sick! In the end, it would be Ramses' fault if his poor, god-like daughter died!

Cleo took her breakfast in her room, contemplating what she should do today. She couldn't exactly leave the building, and it would probably be for the best if she didn't leave her room either. But what was there _to_ do? There was no way Cleo was going to start studying again yet, that could wait until home schooling began.

Perhaps she could spend some time reorganizing her jewellery and wardrobe. She hadn't exactly spent much time on it while unpacking the day before, and if she couldn't buy anything new for now, then resorting the old usually gave her a smile anyway. Perhaps she would find some old, forgotten gem of an outfit to wear today.

Minutes passed and Cleo heard steps near her room. It was Nefera who was going to her own room. She needed to be alone now. The conversation with her father had been extremely traumatic for Nefera. She honestly just wanted to sit in the corner and cry her eyes out about that stupid appointment. Again she felt so pressured by her father. She was seriously scared to go there, but nobody knew that, and Ramses would not tolerate another excuse or take 'no' as an answer.

The risk that someone could hear or see her crying, made Nefera decide not to get too emotional about it. Crying was for pathetic losers and she was not one of them. No, she was a winner… Wasn't she?

With a big feeling of insecurity, Nefera walked to her mirror, critically looking at herself. She wondered if she would be the prettiest model at the audition tomorrow. She had to be! And did Nefera have eye problems or did she seriously gain weight? As fat like that she could impossibly face so many skinny models! Oh Ra, why was life so cruel?

Cleo was still busy organizing her earrings - but where were her purple scarab wings? Nefera could take her dresses, there were even some pairs of _shoes_ she didn't mind being 'borrowed', but she could _not_ have those purple scarab wing earrings!

Cleo knew full well that her sister had returned to her own room from breakfast - she had a very distinctive gait, even audibly - so perhaps it was time for an intervention.

She turned to her servant overseers. "Escort me to my sister's room, I wish to speak with her."

The servants looked at each other and eventually nodded at Cleo. They escorted Cleo to Nefera's room, just as ordered. When they opened the door, WITHOUT KNOCKING, Cleo saw her sister, standing in front of her mirror in underwear, critically touching her waist and hips. Nefera got a shock when she heard the door opening. The princess screamed dramatically. Were these losers unable to knock on the door?! She just wanted to be alone for some minutes! Was that impossible?! Stupid peasants, argh!

Cleo looked in through the open door and saw her sister parading around in her underwear. In her own opinion, without the layers of bandages covering her abdomen Nefera looked _more_ than model-thin. No wonder Cleo struggled to wear her sister's custom clothing. "I take it you're getting prepared for the interview." Cleo stated, innocently enough.

"Get! Out! Of! My! Room!" Nefera yelled, throwing shoes after them. It weren't her shoes though. It were the ones she had 'borrowed' from her sister.

Nefera would go to her father later and tell him about their servants' inappropriate behavior! These perverts needed to get fired! It was clearly their plan to stalk Nefera why she was almost naked!

Cleo dodged a shoe as one of the servants closed the door. She yelled to her sister through the sealed entryway "I just want to know if you have my purple scarab earrings!?"

No answer. Three minutes later, the door opened again. Nefera stood there, wearing a short, golden dress. But that was not the only thing she wore. Together with the dress, she wore exactly the earrings Cleo had asked for. She hadn't been wearing them before. (Another clear sign that Nefera was made out of pure evilness…)

"Oh, do you mean these?" She asked, pointing to the earrings while wearing a fake smile.

"Yes, _those_." Cleo said bitterly. "Will you be wearing that to the audition?"

Nefera laughed at her sister's reaction. "I don't know," she answered almost happily. "I would give them back to you, but they look much better on me." She laughed again.

After the fat disappointment she had seen in the mirror, putting Cleo down was something that she needed to do to feel better about herself. Nefera tried to think of more things to hurt Cleo with.

"How was breakfast? You were all alone, weren't you? No wonder, nobody likes you anyway." Nefera fake laughed. She was depressed from the ugly figure she had seen in the mirror and it added to her insecurities. It really did. Nefera hoped that Cleo would feel as bad as Nefera did now.

"Breakfast was fine, thank you. I take it you ate with daddy. Not in your underwear, I hope." She tried her very best not to let Nefera get to her. Everything she said was a lie, anyway. Of course she was loved, and of course those earrings looked better on _her_.

"Tzzz," she pushed Cleo away, sadly not hard enough to make her fall down the stairs. What a shame.

Even if she honestly thought the opposite of herself right now, Nefera kept on making herself look strong. "I look beautiful in my underwear."

Keep going, Nefera!

"Even daddy knows that."

…Uhm… maybe that addition was a little _too_ much…

"You will never be as beautiful as me, and if you don't get out of my way now, I am going to tell daddy that you… Whatever, I will think of something. Now leave me alone!" Nefera said angrily, pushing her sister again.

Deep, deep inside, she actually felt very embarrassed. Nefera hoped that Cleo didn't think of her sister that she was fat and ugly.. But what if she did?

What if Cleo told everyone what she just had seen? Everyone would talk about it and laugh at Nefera! That was something she couldn't handle. She grabbed her sister's shoulder in an attempt to keep herself from fainting. Nefera didn't feel good. Not at all.


	27. Of Lunch with the Family

_Author's Note:_

 _Trigger warning: Chapter contains continues themes of anorexia and bulimia._

* * *

At first, Cleo thought that her sister had grabbed hold of her as some sort of abuse, but then realized that she didn't look well at all. "Are you okay Nefera?" Cleo questioned, sounding genuinely concerned, and one of the servants accompanying her moved to support the older de Nile sister and guide her back onto her room to sit down.

Nefera sighed, as she sat down on her couch. What was the smartest thing to do now?

There were mental problems that were troubling her, but why shouldn't she use that to make it look like a dangerous sickness? Maybe she wouldn't need to go to her audition then!

But otherwise… What would Ramses say? Ugh…

The crown princess moved her hand to her forehead. She quickly realized that faking illnesses was not an option now.

"I am fine, thank you. I wish for all of you to leave me now. I need to learn for my appointment, because I want these people to see… how amazing I am. My body is.. flawless and.. god-like. Just like the rest of me." She started to yell. "SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She'd better not admit that Cleo just saved both of them. If she (or actually the servant) hadn't have done something, maybe the two princesses would have fallen down the stairs together… What an unpleasing thing to think about.

Cleo turned to leave with the servants, but she had one last thing to say to her sister before she returned to her own tomb. "You're a de Nile, Nefera. They'll _worship_ you."

Nefera couldn't do anything but smile at Cleo's statement. After her sister and the servants left the room though, she felt rather sad again. It was no option not to go to the appointment, so Nefera had to prepare herself for anything and everything.

She looked through the newest fashion magazines she always bought. She searched for the things that were the most fashionable this season and tried to create an outfit that looked exactly like the one in the magazine. After that, the princess made the rule for herself, not to eat today. Nobody had to know that though. Nefera was born flawless, she had no problems with eating at all…

These things only took her about fifteen minutes and Nefera quickly realized that she couldn't be alone with her thoughts. She just couldn't. Never. To help herself, she called twenty of her servants.

And there they were, sitting in front of the big golden mirror, feeding Nefera with grapes and playing the compliment game with her. That went on for straight three ours until lunch was prepared.

Cleo had taken her time with getting ready that morning. After returning to her room and putting the finishing touches to her jewellery organization, she had taken a good, long, stress-free bath and picked out an outfit for the day ready to fix her makeup in a way that would compliment the color pallet for her ensemble.

She was just adding some gold to the flicks of her eyeliner when a servant came to announce that lunch had been prepared and that he would, to Cleo's surprise, be leading her to the dining room.

So she was actually _allowed_ the privilege of eating with her family again?

Yes, she was.

Ramses had enough of this family drama. Nefera would attend her audition and have success, and Cleo would be home schooled and have success as well. Everything would be normal again. That's what Ramses was hoping for.

They had all kinds of food with only the most expensive ingredients. Everything had to be the best for the de Niles; they were absolutely flawless. Ramses did not want someone else to think there was a problem with his family, so eating together was a good turn, in his opinion. If one of his daughters couldn't behave though, he would send them back to their room. Unpleasing behaviour was not tolerated. Especially not by royalty.

Cleo and Ramses were already sitting on the huge table when Nefera was still in her room. She had decided that staying here and letting her servants compliment her was a better idea than eating with her family. She told one of the servants that he should go down and excuse her.

Right when the servant left, Nefera actually realized that what she had done all the time while listening for these compliments was EATING! She suddenly felt horribly angry and an aggressive noise could be heard from out of her room.

The sound of Nefera's furious yelling rang through the halls and into the dining room. Cleo felt sorry for whatever servant had annoyed her sister that much. What had he done, exactly? Style her hair wrong? Used a different shade of nail varnish than she had asked?

A servant entered the room, announcing in between numerous apologies that Nefera would not be dining with Cleo and their Father, all the while accompanied by the sound of her shouting in the distance. Well, _that_ much was already obvious…

Did Ramses really just hear that?

"What?! Tell her that I want her to come and eat with us! IMMEDIATELY!"

The servant nodded and walked upstairs in a hurry. The last thing Ramses liked was cold food that was supposed to be warm.

But when the servant looked up in Nefera's room, he did not find her. That was because she had just disappeared in the bathroom. It was the rule not to eat and Nefera broke it. Even if she usually said that rules did not bother her because she was allowed to break them anyway, these grapes had to get out of her somehow. If not, they wouldn't like her at the audition because she was fatter than the others. She would fail and failing was something Ramses would be angry about later. Nefera too. Angry at herself for being such a failure and for disappointing her father!

It didn't take long until Nefera walked out of the bathroom again, right to the dining room. It was the first time she did such a thing, but in this situation, the toilet (and her finger) had been her best friend. She put on a facade, just like she used to often. She looked pale, though. What she just did was anything but healthy.

"Hello, my family. I have to excuse for the waiting, but I was learning for my audition tomorrow. My career is something I take very serious, so I almost couldn't stop seeing myself getting better and better!"

That sounded really ambitious. Something Ramses liked to hear. He already forgave Nefera for being late. "Please, sit down with us, my daughter."

Your wish is my command, daddy…


	28. Of Looking the Part

_Author's note:_

 _Trigger warning: Continued theme of eating disorders_

* * *

Cleo rolled her eyes at Nefera's display. Why did she always have to suck up to their father like that? And more importantly, why did it always _work_ when she did it?

With Nefera finally seated, their food was presented to them on golden platters. it all looked delicious, Cleo had to say. Not that it didn't any other time, but it was somehow nicer being able to eat with her family in their grand and elegant dining room.

She was eager to start her food, but of course it would be rude and completely against etiquette to begin before her father, head of the household, so she tried to bring up a little small talk instead.

"So… what exactly is the new audition for? Dress photo shoots? Shoes? Will you be on the runway again, or might I see your advertisements in some of the fashion magazines?

Nefera looked at her food in disgust. Instead of answering her sister's question, she thought about the excuse she should use for THIS situation.

Should she go for the I-am-not-hungry-excuse? Should she tell her father that she didn't want to eat before the audition tommorow? Or should she just say that she had already eaten before (which was actually true.. A little bit at least!)?

Nefera was sure that Ramses wouldn't tolerate any of these excuses, but she decided to go for the last one.

Nefera was a pro at telling lies, but she had to make a good impression first, so her father would believe her. NOW it was time to answer Cleo's question.

"I will be on the runway again soon, little sister. Many model coaches have told me that I am a perfect runway model. Everything on me is perfect for the job. My style, my height, everything! Except, well, except one thing.

Many professional people in the business told me I was too thin! They said I should gain some weight to get thicker. Much thicker." She made a little pause. "What do you think about me getting thicker, daddy?"

Nefera had never talked to a model coach before and none of these things were true, but she really knew her father. He would probably say something like 'Gaining weight?! I do not think this is a good idea, my daughter.'

Ramses looked surprised. "Gaining weight?! I do not think this is a good idea, my daughter!"

Personally, Cleo thought that putting on a little weight might do Nefera some good. Not a huge amount, but enough to keep her from looking like she'd only just been unearthed from her tomb. She kept quiet, though, prodding at the food with her fork while her father and sister discussed Nefera's career.

"I've been eating the whole day long, daddy! I do not know if knew this," and of course he did not, "but models are always getting thicker and thicker! I ate so much, I feel very sick, daddy. May I lay down somewhere and take a little break? Food is really the last thing I want to see now."

Ramses looked more than surprised. It was true, he did not know anything about models these days. He never did, actually.

Ramses trusted his oldest daughter as she was probably very experienced in such things. Her career was really important to his daughter, and he would discuss the details with her later. Ramses needed a bit to think about his answer though. "Yes, my daughter. If you really ate so much, you better stop eating for a while."

Ahhhhh~ Nefera was so intelligent, she was flawless and god-like and her father believed her everything! She put on a sick-looking face and got up from her chair. "Thank you daddy," she said in a weak voice. "I'll try to catch some food later, I am sorry for bothering." With these words, she left. Even the servants were surprised.

Cleo knew for a fact that her sister was lying. She may not have been a model herself, but she had seen enough fashion shows and episodes of 'Americas Next Top Monster' to know that plus size models may be getting more representation, but the main trend was for fashion models to be skinnier than ever, not bigger.

Either Nefera was grossly misinformed (she could be easily swayed by other's opinions at times), or she had _not_ been eating since Cleo saw her this morning. Had she crossed the border into anorexia?

Cleo didn't know which it was, and it wasn't exactly safe to make an assumption and be wrong at this moment in time, so she decided that she would find out for herself later on and for now opted for a subtly ambiguous, "I hope Nefera doesn't take her new diet too far Daddy, I think she'd be just perfect for the auditions as she is already, don't you?"

"Diet?" Ramses, who had never read a fashion magazine in his unlife and still preferred ancient egyptian women, asked as he started eating his food. "Your sister is on no sort of diet!" His voice became louder.

Meanwhile, Nefera sat on her couch in her room again. She wondered if she had done the right thing? She wouldn't make herself throw up again, that was what she promised herself. It had just been an... emergency. Her father wouldn't notice if she didn't eat the rest of the day and the start of next day, anyway. He was way too busy with his work and with telling Nefera how flawless he wanted her to be. It wasn't a big deal, was it? Nefera already thought about how to skip breakfast without anyone noticing anything…

After the audition, everything would be okay and normal again, wouldn't it? It surely would.

After finishing lunch, Cleo set down her utensils "That was delicious, Daddy," she complimented him, even though really he had had no hand in making it whatsoever. "Thank you for having me back in the dining hall with you. I've missed this."

Ramses had finished his dish as well. As a de Nile, he liked being complimented. But of course Ramses already knew how great he was. He gave his daughter a smile. A tiny one.

"You can continue on eating with us as long as you behave, my daughter. All the obstacles are out of the way now, you will be home schooled again and have success. I believe in you, Cleo. You can do this. You will see how good it works without the wrong people in your way. Nobody will hold you back anymore. You will make me proud, daughter. Will you?"

"Of course I will, daddy." Cleo answered proudly "Do you need any help with your work today or should I return to my rooms?"

Nefera would be angry at Cleo if she had heard this question. How dare she suck up to him?!

"No, thank you, my daughter. I would like you to go to your room and study a little bit for school now. I won't have you embarrass us in front or your new teacher!"

Ramses' plan now was to go up to Nefera and talk about the details of her appointment with her. It was highly important that she was the best and won the audition. Later, the three of them could all eat dinner together.

Cleo did _not_ have studying in mind for her schedule today, but it wouldn't do to upset her father when things were going so well. "Yes, Daddy," Cleo said, rising from the table as a servant joined her at each side to escort her back to her room.

She decided to pick up from where she had left off before the _masterful_ escape attempt: phys-icks. This would call for some major revision. It was time to break out _the studying glasses_.

Not that Cleo needed glasses, of course. They were just plain glass lenses in designer frames, but it was always best to _look_ the part in order to _be_ the part. After all, weren't Ghoulia and Jackson the two smartest people at Monster High? And didn't they both wear glasses? It made perfect sense.

Nefera sat in front of her mirror again. She played the compliment game with her servants, right when Ramses came in. After knocking, of course. Nefera got panic when she saw her father coming in. Not only because he obviously wanted to talk to her, but also because what she did there was anything but learning.

After telling her again that she had to be the best and had to win to make him proud, he wanted her to actually show him what she had learned.

Nefera felt stressed. What if her father didn't like her walk? What if it wasn't good enough?

The magic of wearing the studying glasses was doing nothing to help Cleo with her revision. Usually, she was rather good with equations - if she did say so herself - but Cleo just couldn't get her head around the way they related to different forces and such. It was all very well being able to do the math, but not if one couldn't apply it to the right formula first.

What she needed was some kind of break. Yes, already this early into her study session.

Nefera walked and posed as good as she could. She looked at her father, hoping that he liked it.

"Hmm," Ramses said. How did a good walk actually had to look like? "How about we ask your sister about the walk? I am sure she knows how to rate it."

Walking in front of her sister was nothing Nefera wanted right now. Nothing she wanted AT ALL, to be honest. Wasn't walking in front of her father already worse enough? It would be a perfect occasion for Cleo to tell their father that Nefera wasn't a good model!

But she, of course, followed her father into Cleo's room. "My daughter, we need you to rate Nefera's walk for the audition tomorrow. I do not want her to fail. Are you able to take a break from studying?"

"Oh, definitely!" Cleo enthused, hoping that her father would take it as excitement for helping her sister and not for ending her research for a while. She got comfortable with her seat facing away from the desk to view her sister, and propped up her studying glasses on top of her head.

Nefera took a deep breath and started her walk. She made lots of poses and smiled at her father and sister when she was done. Maybe that would make them like it more.

Cleo was always impressed with her sister's natural modelling ability. Perhaps it was just part of being a de Nile, but Nefera commanded absolute attention on the catwalk; in fact, it had been her sister that Cleo based her own model walk on during her brief stint on the Scaris runway. "You haven't lost your touch," she told Nefera when she was finished "I'm sure they'll _adore_ you tomorrow, I'd love to go and see it!"

Nefera smiled at her sister's comment. It made her feel a lot better actually. "Yes, I know. What do you think, daddy?"

"My daughter, I am impressed."

And THAT comment made Nefera A LOT happier than she was before.

Ahhhhh~ She was flawless and compliments from her family, especially her father, felt much better than the compliments her servants always used to give her.

Cleo turned to her father. "I know you said before that I wouldn't be allowed to go with Nefera to her appointment, but could you, maybe, reconsider?" It would be _much_ more interesting than trying to study for a whole other day. Plus, _high fashion_. Who could say 'no' to that? "… that is, if Nefera doesn't mind me accompanying her?"

Oh, Nefera definitely DID mind that! She answered before her father could say anything. "I would prefer to go there alone, thank you, little sister."

Nefera felt faint when she started imagining that she's at the audition, fails and everyone laughs at her. Even Cleo! She could tell everyone of her little high school friends that Nefera was a loser!

Ramses voiced his opinion angrily. "When did I allow you to go out?! You made many mistakes this summer and will certainly not bother your sister at her important audition!"

"Of course… you're right." Cleo turned her chair back to face the desk "My studies are far more important than cheering on my sister. I'll have to settle for congratulating you when you get back, Nefera."

Nefera hid her insecurities behind a smile before turning to Ramses. "I will keep preparing for my appointment, father. It is the most important thing right now, I hope you understand that. I will try to help you with your work as much as I can AND USUALLY DO when I am going to be back from the audition."

"Yes. Both of my princesses should keep on being ambitious and work hard for their goals. Make me proud, daughters, make me proud."

"I'm sure we _both_ will, Daddy." Cleo said, stepping in before Nefera could say anything against her in reply.


	29. Of More Successful Family Meals

_Author's note:_

 _Trigger warning: Continued themes of eating disorders._

* * *

Hours passed and it was time for dinner. The servants prepared luxurious dishes, just like always. Ramses and Nefera had had an intensive conversation about the audition. Ramses told his daughter everything he wanted her to do and everything she should not do. She also had to present him her outfit for tomorrow.

The only topic they did not talk about though, was the eating thing. Nefera hoped that her father still believed that she ate all day to actually gain weight, but maybe he wanted her to eat dinner again, because Ramses didn't see his daughter eating at all that day. Except for the little bit of breakfast they had this morning.

Cleo stretched as she stood from the chair she had been sitting in for the last few hours studying, ready to be escorted to the dining hall. It was a wonder she had even stayed awake for that time, really; phys-icks was tiring work! Had it not been for the constant presence of servants willing to tell her father if she _wasn't_ doing as she was supposed to, they no doubt would have found her drooling over the text book when dinner was announced - no, actually, not drooling. De Niles do not 'drool' in their sleep.

Nefera and Ramses were already sitting on the table in the dining hall. Cleo made her way there too, even if she could hear her family debating before she even reached the stairs.

"Yes, you will eat!" Was the last thing Cleo heard before she reached the dining hall. It had been Ramses, yelling as angry as usual.

Cleo entered the over-sized room quietly and took her seat. So Nefera was refusing food in preparation for her modelling appointment? That seemed a little drastic. Really, she was thin enough as it was!

Both Nefera and Ramses were annoyed. Mainly at each other. Nefera knew that if she kept her I-won't-eat-dinner-attitude, her father would a) be angry, b) expect more from the audition, and c) force her to eat anyway. That had happened once, years ago, and Nefera definitely didn't want such a drama to happen again. She grabbed a salad.

The tension in the air was thick enough that you could cut it with a knife. Selecting some tagine for herself, Cleo tried to think of some kind of conversation she could start up that wouldn't involve their current meal or her sister's modelling audition. "My studying is going well, Daddy. Maybe I can show you later, if you're not too busy."

Ramses looked from Nefera's almost empty plate to his younger daughter. "I would love to see what you have learned, Cleo."

Nefera didn't say anything this time. Her family was mean and evil, they hated her, and everything she could say now would bring her in trouble later anyway!

'Nefera, don't be so mean to your sister!', 'Nefera, go to your appointments!', 'Nefera, eat something!' Argh, her father was never happy anyway! Unlife had changed a lot since Mother was gone.

Cleo smiles proudly to herself. Today was definitely going much better than the rest of Summer had so far. "I think I might like to sit outside to do my work tomorrow, if the weather's nice. Would that be okay, Daddy? I'd still have the servants there to supervise, of course. I just think a change of scenery would be an advantage to my progress."

Ramses made a noise out of anger. He quickly lost his temper and started yelling at both of his daughters. Was a dinner in peace too much to ask for?! Where was a son, nurse when he needed one?!

"No, you will **not** sit outside!" He turned to Nefera. "No, you will **not** stop eating for the audition tomorrow!" He angrily slammed his fist on the table.

Cleo silently prodded at her food - small talk wasn't going to work out, apparently.

Well, at least she wasn't the only one who had gotten yelled at. It was nice to see Nefera getting what was coming to her as well for a change.

None of the family members talked for the next ten minutes. The time stretched out to seem like an eternity. Ramses and Cleo were eating their food while Nefera was, well, _poking_ her food. She was the last one still... 'eating' (even if the only things she had eaten this far were a lettuce leaf and two pieces of tomato) and kept looking at her plate. Life was stupid.

Cleo was starting to become agitated by the lack of conversation and impatient at sitting and waiting while Nefera refused to eat a simple _salad_. She propped her head in her hand with her elbow on the table, sending her father a silently pleading look of 'please, excuse me from the table or tell Nefera to hurry up'.

Ramses turned to Nefera. He was also tired of waiting for his daughter. "Nefera," Ramses started.

Nefera looked up from her plate, wanting her father to say 'Nefera, you don't have to eat if you don't want to. I am a good father and I love you, so I will not force you to things you don't want to do.' Maybe he would actually say that so Nefera could-

"Hurry up with eating! We don't have all day!"

Nefera made a 'Hmpf' noise and continued poking her salad. She ate another lettuce leaf, already regretting it a second later. Tomorrow she would be fat,all because of her father!

Cleo watched as her sister reluctantly picked at the contents of her plate and leaned back in her chair with a noise of frustration. Looking back over to her father, she decided to make her frustration more well known. "Daddy, may I be excused?"

Getting up from the table when someone was still eating was an inappropriate behaviour Ramses did not tolerate. "We wait until everyone is ready!" Ramses answered loudly, looking at Nefera.

"But I AM ready!"

He sighed. First, Ramses actually wanted to yell at Nefera again, but then he thought about the work that was waiting for him in his office. "Fine. You both can leave."

Cleo stood briskly from her chair, almost knocking it over completely as she stood but for the servant who caught it for her. She never though she would be so glad to be told she could go back to _studying_.

"I'll go and finish off my revision for tonight, Daddy. I'll show you what I've done tomorrow, _while Nefera's busy_." she informed her father, giving her sister a sideways glare as she turned to leave the room. It would make a nice change to be the one getting some recognition.

Nefera got up as well and the next hour passed away quickly. Ramses called his daughters into the living room later, because he had an announcement to make.

"Nefera, Cleo, my daughters. I have a business meeting in an hour, so I will leave you two now. Please keep on learning for school and the audition. I will be back around nine. The servants will keep an eye on you two, making sure that you will learn as much as you can and, Cleo, not leave the palace. They will also prepare supper and, Nefera, I want you two to eat nicely. Please do not fight. The servants will tell me how it went and inappropriate behavior will be punished." with one of my deadly boring lectures "I hope you understand."

Well, at least it wasn't like he was announcing something terrible. Even if Cleo was going to have to eat with her sister - again - it wasn't as though she was going to be forced to sit and watch for _hours_ this time. "I won't go anywhere, daddy, don't worry." she told him with a smile "We'll miss you."

It was now Nefera's turn to talk.

"I will practise for the audition more than ever before, and tomorrow I will go there and I will make you feel as proud as ever. I will make the servants watch my work so they will be able to tell you how good I have done and how good you have raised me. You are the best parent that has ever existed and Cleo and me will not fight, because my two god-like parents and the awesome nurses I have had in childhood have taught me not to cause war. I will help my little sister with her school work as good as possible, because I want her to come as far as you, and I want to be an as good older sibling as you were and still are. I will make you proud, father. Today, tomorrow and for the rest of my unlife."

If THAT wasn't sucking up, the Cleo didn't know what sucking up was.

The queen had spoken. The 'Sucking Up To Daddy Queen'.

Cleo crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in a _'yeah, okay Nefera'_ sort of way and bid farewell to her father. Nefera would most certainly _not_ be helping her this evening, they both knew that


	30. Of Silent Suppers and Palace Pets

Turning on her heel, Cleo had the servant overseers follow her back to her room. She hadn't actually added to any of her revision in the last hour, and didn't really intend on doing much for the rest of the evening. Still having no access to the internet and no T.V. privileges, Cleo supposed that she could maybe read a book to pass the time. It felt like an absolute age since Cleo had actually read something that was neither a text book or a blog post.

Nefera went to her room as well and took some servants with her. The compliment game wasn't the only game she enjoyed to play with them, there were many others.

It was a day before the audition, so Nefera felt like shopping would do her good. She didn't want to leave the house though. Her lungs would be exhausted from having to deal with common air.

So the game she decided to play was the online shopping game. It worked like this: The servants searched for flawless clothing online, told Nefera at least five compliments relating to it, explaining why she would look fabulous in it, and Nefera eventually bought it.

If a servant chose an ugly outfit, told Nefera a compliment twice or something she did not want to hear, or didn't seem honest, she yelled him and pointed out his stupidity and flaws. It was much like the compliment game, actually.

It was Ramses' money and the servants' nerves that had to be sacrificed for this game but, in Nefera's opinion, it was totally worth it.

… Even if the person who usually left this game without any nerves left was Nefera herself.

There was this one situation, years ago, where a servant had the audacity to chose an outfit ONE SIZE TOO BIG! Nefera had discussed three hours with her father about firing him. Ramses had refused to, so they ended up forbidding him to play this game with her anymore. Nefera just had to settle with ignoring him and wishing him to burn in hell.

Cleo wasn't sure what to read, so she tried asking the servants for recommendations, which was of course no help at all since they were all generally busy with keeping the de Niles entertained and didn't exactly have the time to themselves for such a leisure, so she ended up choosing a book from the family's vast library based solely on picking a title that interested her.

 _'The Little Prince'_ sounded like it would be okay. And on returning to her room with it and discovering that the story began with talk of snakes and the way adults shape the lives of their children, and by chapter 2 (If you could really call it that, they were _very_ short chapters) the narrator was in the Sahara Desert, she decided that, _yes_ , this would be a good book to read.

She was more than half way through the book, and actually quite intrigued by it, when the call came for supper. Irritatedly and unwillingly, she set the book down and followed her escort to the dining room. Predictably, though, Nefera wasn't there, and probably had no interest in coming at all, so Cleo decided to go and fetch her.

Nefera was still playing her nice little game when Cleo suddenly came in. Yes, Nefera knew that supper was ready but she did not care at all. Cleo should go eat and get fat, but not Nefera. She'd rather keep hearing compliments. Learning for the appointment was also something she did not want to do now. It would stress her, and stress was not good.

It was already clear what Cleo wanted, but Nefera still decided that, today, Cleo was lucky, so Nefera would not ignore her. "What do you want?"

"Daddy said that you need to eat something tonight, before he left." Cleo reminded her sister. "So, are you coming to supper?"

"I don't care what daddy said," Nefera answered, facing her laptop instead of her sister. She turned to the mirror, still not looking at Cleo, took out her lipstick, and used it. Red looked excellent on her. She had already heard that from one of her servants though.

She took that as a resounding 'no'.

Returning to the dining room, Cleo took her meal of dolma alone. With neither member of her family around, she mused on what she had read, and how her father was like the businessman in the story, that the little prince had described as a 'mushroom', because he was only concerned with 'matters of consequence', and how her sister was like the flower, so vain and self-important, and quick to blame everyone else for her own failings. She hadn't decided who in the story best reflected herself yet.

Left entirely to her own thoughts, Cleo absentmindedly ran her finger around the rim of her glass, making it sound out a note through the otherwise empty eating room. It was clear that Nefera wasn't going to change her mind about coming down.

With nothing else in particular to do, she sat and waited for her father to return home.

Ramses was not going to come home yet, but it was Azura who got closer to Cleo. She tried to find something to eat, but there was nothing that got her attention. Nefera always used to say that Azura was god-like and only deserved the best of food. Azura herself wasn't too sure about that though. The only thing she wanted now was a sweet piece of melon. She crawled on Cleo's hand as an attempt to ask her for some melon pieces.

Cleo had no melon on her plate, but on feeling the bug crawl onto her hand - and on actually realizing that it was Azura, and not some creepy, horrible spider - she offered the little insect a grape.

Well, at least Cleo had _someone_ to share supper with now.

Azura seemed to be happy about the grape, she was hungry because there was no one feeding her today. Azura was much bigger than Cleo's grape but needed some time to actually eat it. Life wasn't easy as a creature smaller than a hand.

Feeding her sister's pet (since Nefera obviously wasn't all too bothered with doing it at the moment) made Cleo miss her own. She wondered how Hissette was, and where exactly in the palace she was being kept. Did she have a nice basking spot? Whose shoes did she have to sleep in? Were they by a decent designer brand?

Oh yes, the shoes Hissette was in right now were TOTALLY designer shoes!

A scream out of Nefera's room was heard. At least five palace windows broke.

THERE WAS A SNAKEY REPTILE IN ONE OF HER DESIGNER SHOES!

Cleo heard her sister scream - everyone on the property did - and at first she considered just letting the servants deal with whatever happened, but then of course, if she _didn't_ go to help, then Nefera would probably make up something to tell their father about how Cleo was a 'dreadful sister' for 'not caring'.

Reluctantly, she had the servants lead her to her sister's room to see what she was overacting about…

… _Hissette_?

And there Nefera stood in her short, teal night dress (which material was as thin as Nefera herself), screaming at a shoe.

Her plan had been to dress up in her night dress and 'go to sleep' right when her father arrived. So he wouldn't force her to do anything she didn't want and, more importantly, wouldn't ask if she had been eating. Also, beauty sleep was highly positive, Nefera knew that.

Anyway, she had decided to do a test walk in high heels again before going to bed. It didn't come that far because, well, Hissette had decided that it was her who needed the shoe more than Nefera did.

The servants, who were still with Nefera, carefully took Hissette out of the shoe. She hissed at Nefera for giving her such a shock.

The next person who got yelled at was Cleo. It was clearly her fault that Hissette, HER pet, was in Nefera's shoe. It was probably an attempt to get Nefera killed. "I could have been bitten!" She yelled at her little sister.

"I haven't even _seen_ Hissette since two days ago Nefera!" Cleo yelled back, exasperated. She held both of her hands out to Hissette. "Come to mummy!"

The servant handling the cobra passed her over, and Hissette gladly slithered out of his grasp and settled around Cleo's shoulders, flicking her tongue out at Nefera.

Nefera was angry. She pushed Cleo away, knowing that Hissette won't bite her. "You aren't allowed to have her! If you don't give Hissette away, I'm going to tell daddy about it!"

She put on a fake smile, feeling the strong need to be in control. "And we don't want to stress daddy now, after his important meeting, do we?"

There was an angry fire burning inside of Nefera. Seeing Cleo happy brought her into rage. If the servants won't immediately take Hissette away from Cleo, Nefera would punish all of them! She would make up a lie about them, tell it her father, and all of them would get fired! ALL OF THEM!

Cleo huffed and allowed one of the servants to lift Hissette from her shoulders, whispering for her to be good and not try to sleep in her sister's shoes for the time being.

"I take it you'll be going to bed now, Nefera, ready for your big day. Hissette shouldn't bother you any more, goodnight."

Nefera turned to her servants. "If you don't take that reptile away from me and Cleo, I will punish you!"

She turned back to Cleo, not even thinking about wishing ANYONE a good night. Anyone but herself, of course.

"And yes, I will. Don't dare bother me!"

 _'Wouldn't dream of it.'_ Cleo though to herself, returning to her own room. Her sister wasn't exactly the best of company, and besides, she had a book to finish reading.


	31. Of Goodnights (and not-so-good ones)

Cleo continued reading her book. Over an hour passed, but she finally heard her father returning. He had planned on come back by 9, but it had taken him much longer than expected.

As a caring parent, Ramses wanted to check how his daughters had been. Since Nefera was born first, she was always the child he thought of first. It was 'Nefera and Cleo', not 'Cleo and Nefera' for him.

Nefera's room was as dark as a tomb and Ramses did not need much time to figure out that his oldest daughter was sleeping. Nefera was a good girl and had probably rehearsed for her appointment for many hours. She must have been tired and exhausted after practising so much.

Ramses decided that waking Nefera up would be a dumb idea, so Ramses knocked on Cleo's door. She seemed to still be awake.

Cleo had finished her book a short while before her father arrived home. The ending was sad, but she still felt as though the story had definitely been worth taking the time to read.

When she hear her father knocking, she had a temporary moment of panic, realizing that she was up later than her father's strict summer curfew, and wondered whether or not she should respond for him to enter her room. There was no point in pretending to be asleep, he would just be able to ask the servants what time she had gone to bed anyway.

Ramses had actually waited for a 'Who's there?' or a 'Come in!', but the fact that he didn't hear anything of this kind did not stop him for opening the door and entering the room anyway.

His meeting went well, so Ramses was not in a bad mood. "My daughter, I am back. What have you done? How do you feel?"

Ramses had refused to go to bed without checking up on his daughters to make sure they were fine. He was strict, but not a cold father… Mostly not.

"I'm fine daddy, thank you. I would have gone to sleep earlier, but I wanted to wait up for you. I've been reading, to… improve my own Creative Writing abilities for class." She smiled sweetly, hoping that that was a good enough excuse. "How was your meeting?"

Ramses allowed himself to sit down next to his daughter. He had ignored her excuse, preferring to talk about his businesses.

"It went well. Everything had worked just how I wanted it to. The amount of paper work had been worth it. How was supper? Did you eat together with your sister?"

"Yes I did eat with Nefera" she lied. The audition was tomorrow, there was no need to anger her father and upset her sister right before her appointment. If she went there and got through, then Nefera should hopefully feel better about herself and start eating again, and if she didn't get the job, well then if Nefera still wasn't eating, _then_ she would inform her father. "Supper was lovely, daddy, we had stuffed grape leaf wraps and some fruit."

"Good. If there is nothing else I need to know, I would like you to go to bed now, my daughter. It is late and we have much to catch up on tomorrow. I wish you a good night."

He got up from his seat, expecting his daughter to answer him politely and go to bed after it.

"Nothing else, Daddy." Cleo got comfortable in her bed as her father prepared to leave the room. "I'll be sure to have all of my work ready to show you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Ramses said again, turning off the main light and softly closing the door. Such sweet moments rarely happened in the de Nile family.

Meanwhile, Nefera laid in bed. The room was completely dark, but her eyes were still open. She laid on her side, thinking about the audition.

If she didn't make it, what should she tell her father? She couldn't lie and say that she got through, because her father would notice it if she passed the audition without a new job.

She touched her facial skin, testing if it was soft. It was, but Nefera suddenly remembered what she had forgotten this evening. In all this stress, she didn't even take off her make-up! Nefera knew that she couldn't sleep with make-up on her face, so she got up and walked to her own private bathroom, which was not far away from her room.

Nefera made sure that her father didn't hear her because the last thing she wanted to do now was to talk to him. He would probably go to bed soon anyway…

Cleo was also trying to get around the house unnoticed. She couldn't sleep, and she decided to see if there was maybe another book she could exchange _The Little Prince_ for. It wasn't too bad, this whole 'reading' thing.

The servant's, in spite of themselves, had managed to doze off themselves after their long day of guard duty, so Cleo hoped that she could slip out of her room and to the library without anyone knowing. To avoid going anywhere near her father's area of the house, though, she would have to pass through Nefera's.

Her sister shouldn't provide any trouble though, Cleo thought. She had already seen Nefera heading to bed some time ago.

Nefera's own bathroom was huge, just like her room… And her ego, some might say. She quickly removed her make-up to check herself in one of the mirrors. Did she look fine? Actually, she did.

When Nefera turned around to one side, something she wanted to forget about became visible. It was the huge scar on her left upper arm she was born with. Nefera carefully felt the skin on her arm with her hand, remembering how flawless the skin of a model had to be.

She usually covered her scar up with bandages or make-up. This way, she could forget that she even had one. Nefera got closer to the mirror. The scar was huge. It looked horribly ugly.

The next thing she wanted to check out was her figure.

Soon, a quiet crying noise could be heard out of Nefera's bathroom. Why was she like this?

Why?

Why couldn't she be beautiful like the rest of the models? Why couldn't she be thin? Why did she have this scar? Why did nobody accept her like she was? Why did her father force her to everything? Why couldn't she talk about feelings? Why did she never have a boyfriend? Why did she cheat through high school? Why did she lose all of her fearleading trophies? Why did her career fail? Why was her father so hard to please? Why didn't she have had a normal childhood? Why couldn't she trust anyone? Why did nobody like her? Why was she such a loser? Why couldn't she be queen? Why was her mother dead? Why did everyone leave her? Why couldn't she be happy too?

Why, why, why?


	32. Of Ramses being Ramses

Cleo could hear the quiet sobbing as she made her way past her sister's bathroom. Not quite believing that her sister could be crying genuine tears, the princess pressed her ear up against the door. It was definitely Nefera in there, and she was definitely broken up about something, so Cleo decided that her book could wait and knocked on the door.

Nefera got a shock when she heard the knocking. Oh Ra, no! She didn't want to cry! Crying was for losers! What had she done?! Why did she cry?!

Nefera quickly grabbed something to rub away her tears. She looked in the mirror again and decided that she could not open the door with a face as red and swollen as a tomato. Her voice sounded shacky, so she decided not to make a noise. The princess stopped breathing. Maybe the person in front of the door, who was hopefully no one more important than a lowly servant, would leave again.

Cleo knocked again. "Nefera? Are you okay?"

Nefera heard her heart beating, louder than ever. She still didn't make a noise. Please, dear gods, make her leave…

Cleo sighed and decided to try one last time. "Nefera, if you need to talk, then I'm here, okay?"

Nefera sat there, like a rat in the corner, fearing of getting discovered. She actually thought about going out to Cleo and talk to her but, please, how dumb would that be?! Nefera was flawless and Cleo was not… That was why she hadn't left yet, wasn't it? Argh, of course it was!

So Nefera continued not to talk and waited for Cleo to leave.

Then Cleo did conceivably the strangest thing possible. Still having the book she had been reading in her hands, she sat down outside the door to her sister's bathroom and began reading to her from chapter 8, all about the vain little rose who feigned enough confidence to tell others that she would not be afraid of a tiger, even though she only had four tiny thorns with which to protect herself.

"The tale of claws," she read, finishing her passage and listening out for any sign of movement from her sister, "which disturbed me so much, should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity."

Cleo couldn't imagine her sister ever reading the book herself. She imagined, in fact, that Nefera would probably be incredibly offended by being told she should read it. But still, she hoped her sister might find something in this one piece of the book that, _maybe_ , she could relate to.

What was that!? Was Cleo insane!? It was night and instead of leaving her sister alone, she actually wasted her time with being in front of the bathroom and reading a book to Nefera?!

She got angry and washed her face quickly to feel less whiny. "Leave me alone!" Nefera yelled out of the bathroom. She sounded much more angry than sad.

Ahhh, at least yelling at Cleo, who was an unwanted accident, made Nefera feel a bit better. Maybe she should get up, go out, and smash Cleo against a wall to feel powerful again?

She could put that idea into action, though, as Cleo had already stood from her spot on the floor at she heard her sister's voice yelling at her through the closed door. "Fine, I will!" Cleo yelled back before making her way down the hall in a huff. What was the use in even trying to be nice to her sister, anyway?

As soon as Cleo left, Nefera got up, opened the door - that hadn't even been locked - and went to her room again. The whole room was still dark when she arrived. Nefera laid herself in bed again and closed her eyes. She had enough of her reflection (and sister!) for now. Life was cruel and in a few hours, Nefera would wake up, uglier than ever before.

On making it to the house library, Cleo replaced her book on the shelf. She didn't bother picking a new one, though. She didn't feel like reading any more.

She returned to her room, being as quiet as possible as she sneaked back to her room using a route that wouldn't lead her past _Nefera's_ again, and, closing the door quietly behind her, slipped back under the covers for the night.

It was 8am when Nefera woke up the next morning. The night had went terrible. Nefera had gotten up at least two times, had cried like a lost puppy at least ten times, and had thought about running away from home at least three times. Eventually, she had just cried herself to sleep.

Nefera laid in bed, thinking about - what else? - the audition that started at 2pm. She stayed in bed and decided not to get up on her own. She would prefer to stay in bed the whole day though, thinking of the audition made her feel sick.

The experience yesterday night was both embarrassing and traumatic and thinking about it made Nefera feel even sicker than before. What if Cleo told all her friends that Nefera had cried? What if they laughed at her because of it? Oh Ra! What…what if Cleo told it Ramses?!

Nefera tried not to cry a twelfth time.

Even having gone to bed quite late, it was reasonably early when Cleo woke up. She wondered if her sister was dealing okay, but she decided not to bother checking on her. She wouldn't want that kind of attention.

A call came for breakfast, and Cleo made herself presentable ready to meet with her father. She didn't expect Nefera to join them.

Nefera DID join them, though. She didn't want to but one of the servants had politely told her that Ramses wanted both of his daughters to eat with him.

So Nefera went to the bathroom to make herself ready. She put on the outfit she and her father had decided would make a good impression. She also put make-up on her face and scar, just like always.

Ramses and Cleo were already sitting on their chairs when Nefera came in. "Good morning!" She said as happy as she could. She tried not to look in her sister's eyes. The thing that happened last night had to be forgotten. As fast as possible.

Cleo was beginning to grow annoyed of the way her sister was seemingly trying to ignore her. This wasn't just her usual 'I'm better than you' sort of ignorance, it was something else, and the younger of the two girls didn't like it. She mumbled a greeting with her head resting in her hands and tried to act nonchalant about the whole thing.

Ramses seemed to be quite happy too - Yes, really. He didn't know about anything that had happened on last night and had memory only of leaving his daughters sleeping peacefully. "Good morning, my daughter. It is your big day today. How do you feel?"

Nefera took a seat and made a fake smile to hide her feelings of inferiority. "I feel good today," she lied. "The night went well and the many hours of sleep I have had made me look even better than before. Argh, what am I saying? I've always looked flawless!" She laughed about her little joke. Nefera was flawless, she couldn't look any better.

Cleo chose not to argue and ate her breakfast in relative silence. Her sister _wasn't_ okay, Cleo knew that, but if this was how Nefera was going to deal with her issues, then so be it. "Will I still be spending this afternoon with you, Daddy, while Nefera's away at her meeting?"

Ramses, who was much busier with thinking of Nefera's audition than Cleo's school work, answered, "You can do YOUR work in my office while I do MY work in it too. How about that, hm?"

Nefera didn't say anything, she was busy counting calories.

"Of course Daddy, that sounds perfect." Cleo replied to her father, casting an eye over to her sister every now and then to see if she was _actually going to eat something_ today.

Nefera poked her food. She didn't want to eat but felt the strict glare that her father was giving her. Nefera eventually ate some salad. She wasn't very talkative that morning though. She would have loved to skip breakfast, it was probably the last dish before the audition, but she couldn't allow herself to discuss with her father now. He hopefully wouldn't be angry with her today.

Cleo was probably just as eager for her sister's appointment to be over as she was. The impending meeting was forming an air of tension around the entire family, and Nefera's reluctance to eat anything 'for her figure' was starting to make _Cleo_ feel self-conscious.

They continued eating until all of them seemed to be done. It was Ramses who eventually broke the silence. "Is that all you want to eat, daughter?" He asked Nefera.

She smiled at him in a sweet way. "Don't worry, daddy. I am really not hungry." All she had eaten was a tiny bit of salad.

"Hmpf," Ramses made. "If you say so. It will be your own fault should you faint at your appointment for eating too little."

"Of course not! I am totally fine. I don't need that much, you know. I am just a modest sort of person."

Sure Nefera, suuuuuuure.

"Well then," Cleo announced, standing from her seat as her hands made a pronounced _thud_ against the table, "I'll be off to my room, if we're all done here." she was well and truly losing her patience with Nefera and the act she was putting on for their father.

"You will leave when I tell you to!" Ramses yelled. He did not like such a behavior at all. Had Cleo started acting like that slacker of a boyfriend?! He waited a bit, watching his daughters. How did they look? Did they dress appropriately?

"If you both are not hungry anymore, then NOW you can leave."

Cleo slumped back down into her seat at being told not to leave, only to stand again a few moments later when her father said they _could_. Did the fact that it was his decision for the ghouls to leave the table really make that much of a difference?

Actually, that was a stupid question. This was Ramses de Nile we were talking about. Ramses was strict, and not being in control was something he hated. It was HIM who was the head of the household and it was HIM who decided when his daughters left the dining hall!


	33. Of the Body Mass Index

_Author's Note:_

 _Trigger warning - Nefera continues to exhibit signs of anorexia_

* * *

Nefera got up too, giving her father a last don't-worry-about-me-smile. When Nefera arrived at her room, she thought about playing the compliment game, but then decided not to. The servants were so dumb, they weren't even good at complimenting a goddess. Nefera had to laugh a bit about that. She sat down on her couch, ignored Azura, who was begging for food, obviously deadly hungry, and started reading one of the newest fashion magazines. Maybe there was a must-have for trendy monsters she didn't have yet?

It were only ten minutes until Nefera realized that common fashion magazines were too ordinary for her to read. She couldn't use them, at least not in public… What would the people think?

On returning to her own room, there was something extremely important that Cleo felt needed doing before she could gather her work together and meet with her father - she had one of the servants fetch her a set of scales, and weighed herself.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the result, Cleo realized that she was being silly, reacting like that just because of the way her sister was behaving. She was perfectly within her healthy BMI range.

With _that_ out of the way, she turned her attention to her textbooks. It would probably pay to get a little more solo revision time in before joining Ramses in his office, that way Cleo could give him a larger list of her accomplishments when she saw him.

Cleo's door opened. "Do you know where the…" Nefera asked, looking around. "Ah!" She said as she took the scale up from the floor. "I need that for a moment."

Cleo looked up from her pile of text books to see her sister taking the scales from her room. "Oh, yeah, go ahead." she told her sister, rather dismissively, and returned to what she was doing. It wasn't as if it really mattered who had the scales; it wasn't something important like one of her dresses.

Nefera had read in this week's fashion magazine that weight and figure was important. There was an article telling you ideal/normal BMIs for your age, gender and height. After weighing herself, Nefera found out that she was underweight. That was probably good, because she was a model and models had to be thin.

Nefera felt even prouder when the next page told her that most models _were_ underweight. So she was not alone and didn't have to 'gain weight' or something silly like that.

Next she found out that there was a world-famous supermodel once... with a weird spanish name. She had a BMI even lower than Nefera, but was super successful anyway!

After reading this horror-ible article, Nefera felt bad again. It was traumatizing and made her learn that she would never be a world-famous supermodel being as fat as she was! It was all Ramses' fault because he forced Nefera to eat this gross food even if she didn't want to! Did he want her to fail or something?!


	34. Of an Afternoon in Ramses' Office

Hours passed.

She had finally done it.

Cleo had notes of revision for every single subject that she had failed on in her final scaremester of Monster High. every. Single. One. Granted, some had less written for then than others, much, _much_ less, but that was what working with her father today was for - topping up those last few and getting daddy's praise for raising all of her grades.

Confident in her accomplishments, Cleo had the servants gather up all of her books and bring them along to her father's office.

Ramses had started with his work long ago. He was about to send a servant to bring his daughter here, right when he heard a knock on the door. That was probably Cleo who finally found the time for coming down the office. She hopefully did not waste her time with something stupid like reading this silly 'fashion magazines'. "Come in, my daughter," Ramses said, looking up from his papers.

Cleo opened the door and stepped in with a beaming smile on her face, her two supervisory servants following close behind, each carrying a tower of books and papers. "Good afternoon, Daddy! How are you today?"

"I am a little stressed. Your sister will leave the house soon and my work is not done yet. Why, pray tell, are you so late? I hope you did not waste your time with some silly teenager stuff instead of coming down here and learning for school!"

"Of course not, daddy!" Cleo said, trying her best to seem as shocked as possible, although in truth that as the sort of thing she would much rather be doing. "I was just doing a little more independent study work. After all, it is the most important thing for me to be focusing on right now."

"It is," Ramses answered. It seemed like he liked Cleo's answer a lot. "Please sit down," he said, offering her a seat. Another servant that had been in the room with her father pulled the chair out for Cleo, and she sat down gracefully, just as a princess of the de Nile family should do. The servants who had followed her in piled the textbooks up for her and she made a show of taking the top book and skimming through its pages.

Ramses sighed. He didn't have long until his next scheduled meeting, and decided to give his papers the most attention now. It was only about a half hour until Nefera would need to leave the house.

Cleo was a little disappointed that her father was paying more attention to his own paperwork than he was to her, but then again, had she honestly expected him to sit and watch her read for the next few hours?

She continued to not-quite-ready her text book, occasionally looking over the top of the page to see what her daddy was doing.

It was always a bit weird when Cleo did her schoolwork in her father's office, because it was totally silent there. If Cleo didn't completely focus on her work, the quiet in the room became awkward very quickly.

Meanwhile, Nefera was watching the clock, wondering if it would be a smart idea to 'be so late for the appointment that it was impossible to still go there'. Ramses would be more than furious if Nefera just 'forgot the time', so she decided that this was a totally dumb idea. She had to leave the house in some minutes, so why shouldn't she show her father how ready she already was? Yessss, super ready.

Ahhhh, it was another one of Nefera's brilliant ideas. All of her ideas were good, the dumb ideas only came from the servants.

Nefera went to her father's office, proclaiming: "I am ready to go, Daddy!"

Cleo looked up in a slight state of shock as her sister came in; the silence of the room had made Nefera's entrance seem much louder than it actually was. Cleo was glad her sister was actually going through with the audition, though, and that she actually seemed eager to go. Maybe it would do her some good to get back into modelling. And maybe it would do _Cleo_ some good for her sister to get back into modelling, too - she was less likely to stay home that way.

Ramses looked up from his papers as soon as he heard his elder daughter's voice. He looked at the clock on the wall. "Already?"

"Yesssss. I, as a professional model, know that it is always better to be at the appointment a little earlier than the others. I know that I am the last person who needs such a benefit, they would even take me if I was late, but I am a de Nile, and a de Nile has to do everything royally perfect."

The truth was that Nefera didn't know anything about such auditions. She had never been to one before, having always gotten her jobs based on her family connections. In reality, she was just scared to stay home any longer. Not that her father suddenly had the idea to check up on his daughter's 'skills and talents'.

Their father seemed unconvinced, but Cleo chimed in aiding her sister. "It's true, Daddy. Usually, I'd be all for the 'fashionably late' approach, making them wait for what is obviously the best; but really, in the fashion world it's best to be the first one to make a good and lasting impression."

She just really wanted her sister out of the house.

Nefera smirked. "Exactly."

Ramses raised an eyebrow. "I wish you all the luck there is on this world, my daughter… Argh, what am I saying? You don't need luck, you're a de Nile."

Nefera laughed. She smiled sweetely as she left the office, making her way out of the house. "I will get this job, daddy!"

"I don't expect anything else."

It were only a few minutes later when Nefera felt totally sick. The weather outside was nice, but thinking of the appointment made her stomach turn.


	35. Of Making Impressions

Cleo didn't know what her sister was up to, leaving so early for her appointment, but silently she wished Nefera luck too, for both of their sakes.

With the older de Nile ghoul gone, the office descended back into the near silence of occasional page turning and pen scribbling. Studying was starting to grate on Cleo's nerves, but at least she was able to spend some kind of time with her father. This was a real rarity, seeing as he was so busy, and spent so long away from home, but it couldn't be helped; that was just part of being an incredibly important person.

Ramses wasn't very talkative either, because talk was unworthy of his power and greatness. Especially in situations like this, when he did his super important paperwork.

The two de Niles kept on working for about a half hour, until Ramses looked over at Cleo to see how she was doing. "How is it going, my daughter?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's… it's going well, thank you daddy." Cleo hadn't really expected for her father to speak. And she wasn't really sure on what sort of response he had been expecting. Did he want to know what she was currently studying? She doubted he would be all that interested. And probably for the better, because she had lost her concentration a while ago and honestly couldn't recall a single thing she had just been reading.

As much as conversing with her father made for a nice change, it often became awkward quickly.

Nobody would have thought it, but Ramses had lost his concentration as well. He was working on these papers since days, so why not use the conversation to test Cleo a bit? Not that she just sat there to impress him, without actually doing a thing!

"What is your book about, my daughter? What are you currently studying?"

Cleo panicked a little, her eyes darting to the sides as if she was trying to find some way to avoid the question.

Closing her book to look at the cover, she read, "Biteology", and returned to the page she was still holding in place to refresh her memory on what she was actually _supposed_ to have been taking in. "It's about, uh… body systems, and certain differences between different monster species." She looked back up at her father "Nothing particularly regal, but I suppose it pays to know one's subjects… in both senses of the word."

Ramses made a quiet "Hm" sound in reply; that really didn't sound too interesting. "Your sister was an excellent Biteology student."

"I'm sure she was." Cleo lied. She wasn't, and Cleo knew that she wasn't. Nefera hadn't been 'excellent' in basically any of her classes, she had cheated and bribed her way to perfect grades. "Anyway, all of this bodily function stuff is pretty interesting in the sense that it's knowledge we never would have been taught _before_. Disgusting, but interesting."

Disgusting' was clearly not a word Ramses liked to hear. Not in this topic.

"No bodily function can get described with the word 'disgusting', my daughter!" He didn't sound pleased. One wrong word was enough to make Ramses lose his temper.

"Maybe you should have a conversation with your sister about Biteology. I am sure she is perfectly able to teach you everything you need to know."

Was that enough talk about Nefera? Of course... not!

"Your sister had As in every single one of her classes. I want you to ask her if there is something you do not understand!"

"Oh, I understand, daddy. I-I didn't mean it like that!" Cleo because flustered. She didn't quite know how to respond back to her father in a way that he wouldn't take offensively "I just… it's about digestion and stomach acid and… _fecal matter_." she pulled a face. "I don't know as Nefera would really want to discuss it with me either."

Ramses faced his daughter angrily. "Your opinion on this topic is really immature, my daughter."

It was the same moment when Nefera stood in front of the huge agency. She touched her slim stomach, feeling the need to throw up in the nearest bush, and not just to feel thinner. She looked around, checking the place for other models. Luckily, there was no one else around yet. That was good, because Nefera really didn't want to be seen while standing in front of an agency, instead of going in. The people could think she was a loser!

Nefera thought about what to say when she went inside. Who would be there? Would they like her? Nefera felt extremely insecure. She didn't want to be here. Why didn't she just fake an illness again?

Cleo was taken aback by her father's outburst. She bet he wouldn't have said it was so 'immature' if Nefera had reacted to it in that way!

Obviously small talk with her father wasn't going to work, so she buried herself in research again. It was easier that way.

She wondered what kind of scheme her sister had cooked up for the competing models, mostly because Cleo couldn't think of any other reason why Nefera would have left so early…

Nefera still stood in front of the big agency. The situation she was in made her want to cry, but she knew that she had to go in now. There was no point in waiting for other models to arrive now.

Right when she wanted to go in, Nefera realized that she hadn't planned anything to make the others fail! Everyting she had focused on was herself… Again! Argh!

Well, it was too late to think of anything now. Evil schemes needed to be prepared, Nefera knew that best. She would have to win by her own unprecedented talent, not by the other ghoul's failings.

She took one last breath before making her way into the agency.

Cleo had reached the stage of impatience where she had begun to tap her pen against the side of her notepad to fill the silence of the room. Looking over the top of her text book, she met her father's agitated gaze and immediately held her pen still with a sheepish smile.

Why had she agreed to spend the _entire_ afternoon here, again?

"Learning will take you far in unlife," Ramses simply stated before paying attention to his paperwork again.

The agency door opened and Nefera entered. She was extremely nervous but didn't want anyone to see that. The princess was told to sit down in the waiting room and wait for the audition to start.

When Nefera opened the door to the waiting room, she saw other models already sitting there. She wasn't first?! How dare they come earlier?!

Whatever, these other people were losers anyway. Worthless losers. They wouldn't reach anything in the model business because of their endless stupidity and ugliness.

Nefera took a seat, actually _looking_ at the others _before_ judging them. She quickly understood that these other common models were no competition for Nefera. Nefera was god-like. The others were less than ordinary.

Now she just had to wait for the actual audition to start and everything would be good, right?

Cleo checked the office sundial. Nefera's audition should be starting some time around now, shouldn't it? Which meant she would be home soon. Which meant that her father could busy himself with fussing over her and how well everything had gone, and Cleo could go back to her room and do something that _wasn't_ _studying_.

For once, she would be happy to have her sister take their dad's attention for the day.

Cleo spoke up, filling the silence of the room. "Do you think Nefera's in her audition about now Daddy?"

The older de Nile daughter was one of Ramses' favorite speaking subjects, so at least this conversation might go a little smoother than the last.

Ah, finally a topic worth of Ramses' attention! The fact that he was busy with his work and not a talkative person didn't make him say much though. "Certainly."

There were more models coming in, Nefera watched every single one of them. Were they prettier than her? Did they have better chances to get the job?

There were some models actually quite pretty…and skinny. Ugh.

The audition started a minute later. The models had to leave the room and meet with the people who were 'testing' them. Nefera wasn't the first one who left. It was a tall vampire ghoul with blonde hair.

Nefera tried to focus on herself when she heard some of the waiting models talking about someone. She heard words like 'ugly', 'pathetic' and 'loser' many times. Nefera turned to the models, fearing that it was her they talked about.

But, no, it was not. It was the tall, blonde vampire that had just left the room. Nefera wondered if they would also talk about her that way when she was out?

The door opened and the vampire ghoul came back. It looked like she didn't get the job, because she put on her jacket and left the agency.

What a loser! That wouldn't happen to Nefera. She was a winner.

The model they wanted to see next was, yes, really, Nefera. Suddenly, the crown princess was really unsure about the statement she had just made a second ago in her head.

When Nefera got up to leave the room, she heard the other models laughing. Were they laughing about… Were they laughing about her?!

"No doubt we'll be receiving a phone call in _moments_ to tell us that Nefera got the job! They probably won't even _bother_ seeing the other ghouls once she walks in." _mostly because she probably will have bribed them_ , Cleo thought, but she kept that part to herself.

Maybe they would have some sort of celebration for her sister for returning to her modelling career. That would certainly brighten up Cleo's summer, even if it wasn't a party for _her_ , it would still be a party.

Nefera turned around to face the models. They were laughing. They were pointing. They were laughing and pointing at Nefera.

Seconds must have passed because the monster auditioning each of the models came into the waiting room. "Nefera! Where are you? We don't have all day!"

Help came too late as Nefera noticed that the make-up she had covered her birthmark scar with was no longer in its place. There were people laughing and pointing at her, the man she wanted to impress was yelling at her and every monster in the whole room could see the terrible flaw she was born with.

This situation was way too much for Nefera and more than she would ever be able to handle. It made her lose control over her body and mind. The room began to spin and suddenly, Nefera was gone.

Some minutes of silence in the de Nile office passed. Just like Cleo had said it, the phone began to rang. Ramses grabbed it, expecting the message that his daughter had gotten the job.

It was a different message they told him though.


	36. Of Nefera's Awakening

Cleo was shocked by the news that her sister had collapsed at her audition, and waited anxiously with her father for Nefera to be returned home. She honestly _did_ feel bad for her sister, but she reasoned that it was Nefera's own fault, really - their father had warned her about not eating before going out today, hadn't he?

Several servants were sent to the agency to bring Nefera home.

They did their job as fast as they could, knowing that the situation was extremely serious.

It wasn't the first time Nefera fainted though. She had fainted several times in the past. An embarrassing moment was enough to make her lose control. The servants knew that by now.

When they arrived in the palace, they brought Nefera to her bedroom, just like they did in Milan, Scaris and the many other cities she had fainted in. Nefera had still not awakened when Cleo came to sit next to her sister's bed.

Meanwhile, Ramses was in his office, having a telephone conversation with the agency-guy. Nefera was unable to talk in her current state, but Ramses had to know what had happened!

Honestly, he also wanted to know what was with the job now. Did Nefera get it?

Cleo didn't know about her sister's previous fainting escapades at her various modelling events. Obviously she had left those out whenever she had called home to talk about her achievements.

Naturally, Cleo was worried. Her sister was evil, absolutely and irrevocably, but it was still sort of scary to think of something happening to her. Left alone waiting for Nefera to come to while her father made his phone call, she reached out and took the unconscious princess' hand.

It was some minutes until Nefera woke up. She seemed to be weak and only opened her eyes to close them a second later.

Nefera remembered that she went to the audition and that they wanted to see her skills. She also remembered the horrible things that had happened after she was called to leave the waiting room. But what had happened after it? She was just gone, without any memory left. Did they like her? Did she get the job?

Nefera hoped that it was a nightmare, but the fact that she wore the dress she wanted to wear for the audition, and that Cleo sat there and hold her hand made her know what had happened.

After realizing that she had actually fainted, Nefera sat up on her bed in shock. She felt highly embarrassed, but also weak. Cleo had seen her birthmark scar already, but Nefera hid it with her hand, no longer allowing Cleo to hold it.

Honestly, she just felt like crying.

Cleo stood from her chair when Nefera pulled her hand away. "I'll go and fetch daddy, tell him you're awake."

"No, no!" Nefera said quickly. She had honestly no idea how her father felt about the whole situation. Nefera fainted at her audition, she surely didn't get the job! The guy waiting for her was angry at her, everyone saw her birthmark and there were many models prettier than Nefera. It was probably a model thinner than her who got the job…

Her father was probably so angry! Nefera was scared of disappointing Ramses and she was scared of being yelled at by him! She turned to Cleo to stop her from fetching their dad.

"What happened to me?" She asked. Maybe Cleo's answer would help Nefera to know what her father was thinking.

"You collapsed while you were away at your appointment, do you remember? Some of the servants brought you home." Cleo decided that she would wait for Nefera to feel somewhat better before telling her that it was her own fault for not eating properly. "Daddy was really worried. He's just calling the agency to find out the full story."

"F-find out the full story?! There… No! I don't want that! I've just fainted because of the other models! It was their fault! It was me who would have gotten the job! The others there were evil and have manipulated everything! They've tried to kill me! I could have died!"

Just like so often, Nefera was freaking out over a situation. She was yelling and pointing at random things in the room, trying to find a good version of the story. Nefera was unable to know what were lies and what were truths sometimes. Especially now. She really hoped that nobody had seen her unconscious in her servants' arms! What would the people think?! And what would daddy think after hearing the lies this agency-peasant told him?!

Cleo severely doubted that the other models had tried to kill her sister. But still, with her reputation in the modelling world, anything was possible. "I really think we should tell daddy that you're awake, Nefera. Then you can ask _him_ what was said on the phone."

Nefera placed a hand on her forehead and leaned back. "You can be glad I'm still alive."

Cleo didn't need to call Ramses because he walked into the room all by himself. "My daughter," he said to Nefera after seeing she was awake.

It was time to be overdramatic again. "Father! Finally you are here! You won't believe what happened!" Nefera tried not to say too much, because she didn't know how much her father knew about the story so far.

"Why don't _you_ explain then, Nefera? I'm sure we'll learn more of the truth from you than the talent scouts anyway, won't we sister?" Cleo chimed in, almost mockingly. She was interested to hear how different Nefera's version of events would be to their father's.

Nefera looked over to her sister, sending her an I-will-murder-you view. Cleo didn't have a soul. Nefera could have died and her sister wouldn't have cared. Nefera was sure, Cleo was evil enough to make fun of her sister, even after her death!

"I arrived at the appointment and everyone was impressed how punctual I was. I took place in the waiting room and looked at the other models. It was obvious that I was better than every single one of them. I saw how jealously they looked at me. When I was the next one to show my walk, some of the other models grabbed me and didn't let me go. They were insane, really. I tried to push them away, but I didn't want to overreact, you know me, father. I am a peaceful person. I quietly asked them to let me go, but they didn't want to. A talent scout, whatever this commoner was called, came in and was totally rude to me for taking five seconds longer! I do not remember what happened later. I was unconscious, so maybe one of these models hit me? It would be probable, really."

Who was best at telling lies? Neferaaaa!

Cleo rolled her eyes at her sister's story. "Oh, so you didn't even get the chance to audition? So, you couldn't have gotten the job then?" She looked over to their father, "Is that what they said, daddy? That they've given the job to someone else?"

"They did say that, yes. The ending was different from yours, Nefera. I have heard that the talent scout came in and you were fainting on your own. There were people pointing and laughing at you," Ramses answered as darkly as always. "That is what I have heard."

Nefera's face became red. How could her father say this in front of Cleo?! How could he embarrass his own daughter like that?!

"They must have lied, because that was certainly not how it was." Nefera answered stubbornly. None of this was her fault. These stupid people did just give her father wrong informations!

"I could have laughed at them, they looked less than pathetic, but there was no one laughing at me. Why should they laugh?" _Maybe because of the huge scar on your arm?_

Cleo shrugged and offered her sister an explaination. "Perhaps you were walking around with toilet paper skewered to your stiletto. Did you remember to check your heels before you went in?"

Or perhaps they had all heard about Nefera's maul trip, complete with bee hive hat and plunger shoes, Cleo thought. She kept the memory to herself, but couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face thinking about it. Truly the best day of her unlife thus far.

Nefera turned to her sister. She would have probably slapped her if their father didn't stand next to them.

"Yes, I DID check my heels! There was nothing on me! Nothing but pure flawlessness!" Her voice changed from angry to sad. "I am very exhausted because of this traumatic incident."

Ramses couldn't understand why Nefera still acted like it wasn't her fault! "I told you to eat before you go!" He yelled.

"But… But daddy! I-I did eat!"

"No, you did NOT eat, Nefera!"

"I didn't faint because of that! It was… It was because of something else…"

Ramses crossed his arms. He didn't seem to believe his daughter. "Why was it then, hmm?"

She sighed, touching her forehead. "I don't know…" Nefera's voice sounded sad and whiny. She felt like a loser.

"Oh, don't tell me you fainted because you were worried about a little _criticism_." Cleo said mockingly, "You're supposed to be a de Nile, a symbol of perfection."

Honestly, Cleo was loving this. She felt bad for her sister, deep, _deep_ down, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up giving Nefera some of her own medicine; Ra knew Cleo got enough torment from her. It made for a nice change to have their father see that Nefera had faults, too.

Nefera tried to stop herself from it, but she just couldn't. Cleo's words attacked Nefera's ego, which made her FURIOUS! Nefera' was deeply hurt, she felt sadness. To protect her weak inner self, Nefera made sadness into anger. Just like so often.

Nefera aggressively pushed her little sister out of the room, she was far away from being able to control her actions. Luckily, the door was open, because if it was closed, Cleo would have hit her head against it.

Nefera continued pushing and hitting her sister when they were near the stairs, without feeling any mercy or regret. She really tried to throw her little sister down. Cleo, on the other hand, was afraid of falling down backwards and grabbed her sister's shoulders, which only made them both fall together. Nefera on the top, and Cleo on the bottom, backwards.


	37. Of Unwelcome New Wrappings

Cleo yelled out in pain as she hit the floor of the lower level; their was a tremendous pain in her right shoulder. She panicked, trying to push Nefera off of her with her left arm so that she could get up off of the floor. The older of the two sisters got up in shock - she just wanted to throw Cleo down, not herself!

She looked down on herself to check if she was okay. Ahhhh~ Luckily there were no flaws on Nefera's god-like body. The gods had protected her.

She didn't feel sorry for her sister, because it was Cleo's fault that Nefera had thrown her down the stairs. It was a shock for probably everyone that Cleo even had the audacity to let Nefera fall down as well!

Hopefully Cleo was hurt badly. She deserved all of her pain.

Unpinned by her sister, Cleo attempted to sit up, using her right side out of pure habit - which proved to be a huge mistake, as the pain intensified and she collapsed back onto the floor.

"There's something wrong with my arm." she sobbed, as the servants who had run down the stairs after the two sisters came to help them both up onto their feet. Sure enough, Cleo's shoulder was uneven, dipping at a strange angle.

Cleo clutched her arm, whilst one of the servants went to fetch spare linen for a sling. The princess looked up the stairs to her father "Daaaaddyy! I need a doctor!"

"A doctor?!" How could she dare say that?! Take away Nefera's attention?! Unbelievable!

Ramses quickly walked down the stairs. He had seen his daughters falling down. He had seen it all. There was only one thing he did in response. Yell.

"NEFERA!"

Cleo would have been glad to hear her father yelling at her oh-so-perfect sister, were it not for the searing pain in her shoulder. She whimpered as the servant returned to wrap her arm in a sling. Right now, she just hoped that the pain would stop soon, and that there wouldn't be any lasting damage. Ramses came closer to Cleo, carefully touching her right shoulder. He didn't need much time to know what to do next. "We will bring you to the hospital, Cleo."

Hospital?! Nefera couldn't believe it! "But-but Daddy… What about me?!"

He turned to his other daughter. "Oh, yes." Nefera thought her father would ask her if she was okay, but that was not what he did. "I want you to give your sister a proper apology! What you did was certainly not okay! We will talk about this later, young lady. Your behavior will have consequences!"

Nefera stayed silent. What in Ra's name was happening?!

"Yes, _Nefera_. I'd like an apology for what you just did." She told her sister, using Nefera's humiliation as a way to ignore her injury. Her shoulder hurt a little less now that it was supported, but annoying her sister certainly helped too. "All I did was try to give you some helpful advice, and this is how you have to thank me?"

Nefera felt insulted and deeply offended. She tried her HARDEST not to slap Cleo against her injured shoulder.

"I am sorry," she mumbled, looking at the ground.

Ramses knew there was no time to lose. He pushed Cleo's back in direction to the main door. "We need to leave. Immediately!"

Nefera stopped facing the ground. She walked after them and grabbed her father's sholder. Her voice sounded as whiny as the voice of a five year old girl whose her ice cream had fallen to the ground. "But daddy! I am injured too!"

He pushed her away, leaving the palace. The only thing they left behind were the servants who hadn't gone with them, and Nefera who wasn't even allowed to come with them. What if she was really hurt?!

On arriving at the hospital, Cleo promptly received attention - there could be no long waiting times for a de Nile!

Her shoulder was x-rayed, and her arm was properly dressed by the medical staff, and the doctor came to speak with Ramses de Nile.

"Your daughter has a fractured clavicle - a broken collar bone. It's not anything particularly serious, which is very lucky for her; a lot of serious injuries can come from a fall down stairs. It will take around 6 weeks for the fracture to heal, and another 6 after that to bring her arm back up to strength. I would suggest consulting a physical therapist to do some gentle shoulder exercises with Cleo as soon as it becomes comfortable for her to go without the sling.

We'll need to see her again in a week or two, just to make sure that the bone is setting properly, but for now it looks as though it should heal well. There was a single, clean break and the bone doesn't seem to have punctured anything, so I'm sure the follow-up results will come back fine."

Ramses was speechless. His daughter had a broken bone. Because of his other daughter. Any parent would need time to come to terms with such a thing.

On their way home, Ramses turned to his daughter. Just as always, he didn't show a single emotion; but if you looked very deep in his dark, stern eyes, you could see that he did care. A lot.

"My daughter…" Speechless. Just as before.

"I'll be fine, Daddy. The doctor told me it will heal up perfectly, no marks." Cleo gave her father a small smile. "It's a good thing I won't be going back to Monster High, really. Imagine me trying to lead the fearsquad with my injury!"

It was all she could do to lighten the mood really, for either of them.

Ramses, as a loving father, felt horrible for his daughter. He placed his hand on her back, which meant a lot. At least for his standarts.

"Don't think I will not punish your sister, Cleo. What she did was a shame. Honestly, I would have never expected it. But when I think about it, it starts making sense. Your sister has always been an aggressive child."

Ah, the good old childhood memories when Nefera hid Cleo's dolls to rip their heads off later, took her toys and kept them for herself, grabbed sand from the ground when nobody looked just to throw it in Cleo's eyes, cut her little sister's hair, and tried to drown her in the river when she was still unable to swim. Yes, nice, nice memories.

'Nice' memories indeed. Cleo remembered them well enough herself.

"Okay daddy…" She paused.

"Do you think, maybe, that I could have Hissette back? For company? She would make me feel much happier."

"Of course you can," Ramses answered, forcing himself to smile.

The had spent much time at the hospital, everthing needed to be done properly. It was already dark outside, and almost 10pm when they arrived back home.

Several servants stood there as guards, just as always, but the dining hall was empty. As well as the bathroom and the living room. It was probably her own room that Nefera was in.

"I take it you do not want to talk to your sister now, Cleo," Ramses said in a questioning tone. He made the impression not to want another group conversation at this point of time. Enough was enough.

"It is late already. Why don't you head to bed soon? I am sure some sleep will do you good. Just tell me how you feel tomorrow, we will decide how to spend our day then."

Ramses' voice sounded much softer now than before he knew what was wrong with Cleo. He had a feeling of deep sadness inside him, because of the fact that his daughter had a broken bone. Maybe he felt this way because the reason for the injury had been nefera, who he had thought of as being so perfect, but maybe just because he had punished Cleo so much before. Whatever it was, the feeling that he wasn't a good parent for not taking care of his younger daughter didn't want to leave him.

"I will. Thank you, Daddy" She gave her father a half-hug with her good arm to let him know that he was doing okay. He wasn't a bad parent, really.

After being lead to her room, one of the servants left to retrieve Cleo's cobra while several others set to work making the bed so that the pillows would be suitably plumped to make sleeping more comfortable for the injured princess.

Cleo was helped to change into her bedclothes, and was just settling in to bed when the servant returned bearing Hissette, who gladly slithered onto the bed to curl up with her owner. Cleo found the snake's hissing soothing. It reminded her of her boyfriend.


	38. Of Better Parenting

Nefera sat on the plush couch in her room. Cleo and Ramses had been gone for a long time, but now she had heard them coming back. Nefera wouldn't have bothered if they would have stayed in the hospital though. Forever.

After these cold-hearted, emotionless robots had left her, Nefera was filled with feelings of anger and sadness. Servants were yelled at, things were thrown to the ground and Azura had almost broke her leg. Well deserved, Nefera had to add.

Later, Nefera had tried to calm herself. She wasn't a mean person, it were the others who were mean. The princess had even tried to drink a special kind of tea to make herself feel calmer and better. I didn't work though. The tea had ended in a servant's face.

Honestly, Nefera was a bit curious what kind of injury her sister had. She kind of wished for her not to have anything permanent or big, so their father wouldn't be THAT angry. On the other hand, Cleo could have died without Nefera caring. Honestly, it was just what she deserved!

Cleo slept peacefully enough, considering her wounded shoulder.

For a while after she woke up, the princess thought about what she could do today, having only one usable arm and all. She decided that 'being both distracted by the pain and unable to use her writing hand' would be a good enough excuse to not have to continue studying for a while; maybe her father would feel bad enough for her that she could have her TV privileged re-instated? There would certainly be enough television drama to catch up on that it would keep her occupied for a while - with no strenuous activity required!

For the time being though, the best option for how to enjoy her day seemed to be redressing Hissette in a new assortment of gold chains and jeweled pendants.

Right when Cleo was thinking about getting out of bed, she heard a knock on the door. The person knocking was her father. "Cleo? Are you awake?"

"I am, Daddy. Come in!"

Well, this was certainly a surprise. There must have been something incredibly important happening for Ramses to have visited himself, and not just send a servant to check on his daughter.

Ramses' night had been worse than Cleo's. His feelings about Cleo's injury hadn't changed since yesterday.

He sat down next to his daughter on her bed and put his hand on her back. He felt bad, he really did.

"How do you feel? How was your night? Were you able to sleep?" _Because I wasn't._

"It was… uncomfortable… but I did sleep, yes." She had considered doing an incredibly Nefera-esque over dramatic speech, probably ending in _'I could have died'_ , but she didn't want to worry her father any more than he obviously already was. His simple show of affection may not have looked like much to an outsider, but it betrayed a lot to his daughter. "The doctors really did a superb job with the support sling, daddy. As long as I don't have to move my arm for any reason, it really feels as though there's nothing wrong. Honest."

Ramses forced himself to smile a little bit, just like he did yesterday.

"That is nice to hear. Do you feel like eating breakfast in the dining hall with me, or would you prefer to eat in bed today?"

"I think it would be a good idea for me to stay here for breakfast today, Daddy." Not just because it was easier and more comfortable, but also because she wanted to avoid any chance of seeing her sister this morning.

He had hoped for a different answer. "It is okay. The servants will bring you your breakfast up when it is ready."

Ramses wondered if he should go to Nefera's room next, but decided not to. It was probable that his eldest daughter was still asleep. It was also not a good idea to stress himself before breakfast that much, so he decided to eat alone this time. Nefera wouldn't eat anyway if nobody forced her to. But that was her problem, not his. Ramses had other problems now. Problems that existed because of Nefera's aggression. He would talk to her after breakfast.


	39. Of Terrible Siblings

Cleo thanked her father, and he left to go about his own daily business. Left alone once again, Cleo went about redressing Hissette, as she had already planned to do, while she waited for breakfast. She would worry about attempting to wash and change clothes after she had eaten, when she had more time. It wasn't exactly as though she could rush to get ready in her current situation.

Suddenly Cleo's room door opened. It wasn't the breakfast she was waiting for, no. It was the lord of chaos personally.

"Aw, did we break a bone?" Nefera asked as emotionless as ever, leaning against the wall. Empathy for others was clearly nothing she was able to feel.

Nefera didn't seem pleased, Cleo knew what her sister was able to after the accident, the door was closed, and they were completely alone.

"Yes I did, thank you for your concern." Cleo deadpanned. It wasn't like she had been expecting an apology from her sister, anyway; Nefera was Set incarnate, minus the curved snout and forked tail.

She wondered if Osiris himself had received these sort of unwelcome, condescending visits from his brother after Isis pieced him back together again.

"What concern?" Nefera laughed, still not caring at all. "I am actually very glad that you are hurt. I hope your bone hurts a lot, it is just what you deserve.

"But I am here for a reason, you little unwelcome accident. I am waiting for the apology you have to give me. So, can I finally hear it now? Or are you still busy with acting like you're injured to get Daddy's attention? Don't even try. He'll always love me more than you."

There was pure hate in Nefera's eyes and she was not saying this for fun. She was serious. Extremely serious.

"What apology? Nefera, I'm not pretending to be hurt. I have an _actual broken collar bone_. There are _x-rays_!" Was her sister serious? Whose fault exactly did she think it was that they had fallen down the stairs?

Oh wait, Cleo's, of course. Duh.

"What apology?! I could have died! You grabbed me to make me fall down too! I was seriously hurt!"

Nefera came closer to Cleo, pushing her against the wall. "You don't have anything!"

She let go of her sister to sit on her bed, making a dramatic pose. "I am traumatized. What you did was way too much for my delicate psyche!"

Her voice, that was very whiny during that part of the conversation, became loud and aggressive again. Nefera got up from Cleo's bed and pushed her little sister against the wall once again. This time, harder than before, without letting go. "You better give me an apology before I break another bone for you!"

Cleo whimpered as Nefera put pressure on her injured shoulder. "I'm sorry, Nefera! I'm sorry for pulling you down the stairs with me."

What else was she supposed to say?

She just hoped that it was enough for her sister to let go, and that her fracture would still be set properly, because the pain had _definitely_ gotten worse.

Nefera let go of her sister. "That's what I wanted to hear." She took a seat on Cleo's bed again, not even thinking about leaving the room yet.

"I hope we know who's boss now." She made a fake smile.

Cleo sent her sister a glare "Was their ever any doubt?"

Maybe she should have followed her father down to breakfast after all. This was the worst.

Cleo was definitely overreacting. Nefera knew that quite well. When she was a child, was in pain and started to cry, her father simply told her not to. Okay, he YELLED at her to stop crying, but did that make a difference? It didn't. At least not for Nefera, so why was Cleo so weak?! She didn't act like a de Nile at all. A de Nile knew no pain.

Nefera and Ramses hadn't spoken a word since the accident. She knew that her father would yell at her eventually, but not now. Nefera wasn't ready for it yet.

Instead of going down to her father or give him or anyone else an apology, Nefera grabbed the little mirror that was laying next to Cleo's bed. Hissette, who was next to it, hissed at her. A reason for Nefera to get angry again. "You should raise your stupid pet better!"

It didn't take her long to make a joke out of the situation Cleo was in again. "Or maybe I will break another bone!" She laughed. To make the whole situation even funnier, Nefera stood up just to push Cleo against the wall, and sat down again. "Did I break a bone in your back yet?" She laughed again.

It was obvious that none of Cleo's bones were broken. She just said that and pretended it to make Nefera feel bad about herself. What a stupid plan! Everyone knew Nefera was flawless!

Cleo ignored her sister's question and grabbed up an assortment of wrappings, calling for Hissette to follow her as she made her way to her bathroom door, away from Nefera. "Well I need to get changed anyway, so we'll get out of your hair." She left the room before she could get a response.

Nefera thought about leaving the room too, until she got an idea. It was a great day to cause trouble in Cleo's room!

The younger princess rang for several servants to meet her in the bathroom and help with her morning routine. It reminded her of the old days, when absolutely _everything_ was done for her and the rest of the family; it was one of the good memories, being waited on hand and foot, but it would still be nice to have both arms working and regain a little more of her independence. Just a little.

Nefera thought about what to do in her sister's room. She got up and walked to Cleo's desk, taking a look at her school work. Hmm, she honestly didn't remember much of it. It was just that stupid, boring stuff Nefera cheated herself through a couple years ago. She moved on with looking through her sister's personal stuff in different places until she found an old picture of Cleo and Deuce. They were at Gloom Beach, hugged each other and had bright smiles on their faces. How pathetic! Nefera found another photo of Cleo and her ghoulfriends, too, just a second later. They all looked happy, being together, having fun.

These two photos made Nefera remember that she has never had a boyfriend or ghoulfriends. How could she know what such pure happiness felt like?

Nefera smashed the photos to the ground in anger. The frames broke, together with both of the photos.

Suddenly, Nefera felt extreme sadness and rage filling her. She felt like crying, but didn't let her sadness out.

The next thing falling to the ground was Cleo's prized jewelry collection that had stood on the desk peacefully. It was on the floor now. All of it. Smashed down in anger.

Cleo was midway through being re-wrapped when she began to hear what sounded like the crashing sound of multiple things falling in her room, and ordered the servants to hurry up so that she could go and check on what was happening.

More crashing noises.

Cleo began to panic, hoping that nothing was broken. She didn't have to wonder what was going on in there, though, because she already knew that a certain _someone_ had been left alone in that room when she left.

Stepping back out of the bathroom, Cleo immediately regretted that decision.

When the door to Cleo's room was opened by its owner, Nefera stood in the broken mess that was now on the floor. She breathed heavily, Nefera seemed to be angry. Really angry.

She didn't feel any better when there was suddenly a servants appearing behind Cleo. The servant wasn't there because of the noises though, he was there to tell Nefera that breakfast was ready.

Nefera felt like yelling the sentence 'I don't want to eat!' at him, but decided not to. She angrily marched out of the room, pushing Cleo away one last time. And there Cleo stood. Alone in her room, facing the mess on the floor.

Cleo was silently fuming with rage at the sight of the mess Nefera had made of her room.

Once her sister had left, she slowly crossed the room to the shattered photos and ornaments, and broken jewelry, kneeling down to brush the broken glass from her picture frame. Tears came to her eyes as she viewed the crumpled photos.

She let out an awful, high pitched scream and immediately stormed out of her room, heading for Nefera's. Her sister deserved having the same thing done to _her_ room; and if she was going to be away at breakfast, then who was there to stop Cleo from doing just that? Her own breakfast could wait.

Slamming Nefera's door behind her, she threw all of the sheets and pillows from the bed, tossing them in all directions, not at all mindful of anything they might hit onto the floor. She pulled drawers out of the nightstand and dresser, emptying in out their contents, and generally caused as much destruction as she possibly could with her one useable arm.

Standing in the middle of the chaos, looking around at her work, breathing heavily just as her sister had been when Cleo had found her, she noticed something that had been uncovered in all of the mess making - Nefera's diary.

Picking it up from the ground, Cleo sat down in a heap of pillows and sheets and began to read. Her sister was always reading Cleo's diary for her own amusement? So why, exactly, should she not return that favour as well?


	40. Of Nefera's Diary

There were many entries in this diary, really. Cleo decided to read the three last ones. They were written yesterday evening. Exactly the evening Cleo and her father had spent in the hospital.

4 July  
As I have mentioned previously, the appointment was a shame I should not have wasted my precious time with. I was about to explain Daddy why those certain things at the audition (mentioned previously) had happened. He believed everything that I had to say, just like he always does. But of course he did, I was right about everything I had told him. Lying to my father is something I would never do. It was working out perfectly until Cleo, who had wasted space by standing next to us, voiced her unimportant opinion. The things this accident had said were completely provocative and untrue. The eventual punishment for her was to fall down the stairs we have near our rooms. I was right about pushing her down when she did an unbelievable thing. She pulled me down with her! We both fell together, just because of her. With this action, she had ruined my complete evening. I was hurt and couldn't get up. I felt horrible pain in my head, my chest, everywhere. But instead of helping me getting up, Cleo made a huge show out of the whole thing! Daddy came down to check if I was okay. Cleo pretended her shoulder hurt and Daddy really brought her to the hospital! It was me he should have taken care of instead! ME!

4 July, Continued  
Hours have passed and they are still not back. I am deeply injured, inside and outside. This accident was way too much for my delicate body and psyche. I could have died while falling down these long stairs, but that didn't seem to bother anyone! No, they only care about the 'poor little sibling'! That's how it always was and always will be.

4 July, Continued  
Another hour without them. I am wondering what they are doing and if they will ever come back. But why should I care anyway? Both of them have disappointed and failed me. I hope Cleo is hurt greatly, just to feel the pain I am feeling all the time. She took away my father's attention, love and care. It is me who deserves his approval! ME! Nobody else! I will never forgive Cleo for what she did to me. Should she die with her stupid shoulder injury! I'd be the last one to care. Be gone, Cleo, be gone forever.

Cleo was deeply hurt by the words her sister had written. She had always know that her sister disliked having their father's attention drawn away from her, especially with only having the one parent to spread their affection between the two of them, but she had never imagined that it ran so deep.

Cleo wasn't exactly Nefera's biggest fan, but she had still been genuinely concerned when she had been brought back from the modelling appointment unconscious… so why couldn't Nefera feel the same way about Cleo having to go to the hospital?

In a way, Nefera's diary entries made trashing her older sister's room even more justifiable for the younger princess. How could her sister - who had despite everything been a role model to Cleo over the centuries - wish that she was _dead_?

Still having the diary in her hands, Cleo heard a dark, male voice shouting from the dining room. "THEN STARVE YOURSELF IF YOU THINK THAT'S SO HEALTHY!" No doubt that was Ramses yelling at Nefera.

The next thing Cleo heard were loud getting-up-from-the-chair-noises and footsteps. Nefera was coming closer, running towards her room. Sad or angry, Cleo couldn't tell.

Everyone in the de Nile household seemed to be broken, in a way. Cleo knew that Nefera would be anything but pleased about the mess she was just about to see! Maybe going into Nefera's room, causing trouble in it AND reading her sister's diary hadn't been the best idea so far.

Cleo had only a few seconds time to make a decision - What should she do?!

Panicking, Cleo tucked her sister's diary under her sling-bearing arm and crawled as best she could to hide under the bed, away from her sister.

One of the sheets had not entirely managed to leave the mattress when she had strewn the bedding across the room, and it was still dropping down from the bed and onto the floor. Hopefully it would be enough to cover her from sight. The sheet on the bed was covering her view, so Cleo could only HEAR how her sister was feeling.

The door opened loudly and was closed even louder. Nefera must have had her eyes closed, because she didn't react to the mess in the room.

And really, Cleo couldn't see it, but Nefera was sitting with her back against the door, hiding her face, sobbing. Crying noises were heard.

She had walked down to talk to her father, but their conversation had not been in a nice tone.

Ramses had yelled at Nefera for pushing Cleo down the stairs. She had gotten a punishment as well; she wasn't allowed to leave the house anymore without having Ramses allow it. There was no internet allowed as well. He told her to stay in her room and think about what she did, after breakfast!

But Nefera didn't want breakfast, no. Arguments like "But she provoked me!", "I didn't mean to do it!", or "I was hurt too!" only made Ramses angrier. He gave Nefera the order to quietly eat her breakfast now. The sentence Nefera had answered then was "I don't want to eat!"

The only thing Ramses did after hearing her answer was to freak out. But why?! Didn't he love his daughter anymore?! Nefera felt so alone. Did nobody care about her?!

Cleo lay quiet under the bed, listening to the sound of her sister crying. Her first thought was - what was Nefera even crying for, anyway? She had caused the fall yesterday, their father knew that, so any punishment she got for that was well deserved. And their dad was also right about Nefera's reluctance to eat - it wasn't healthy. So how, exactly, did anything their father could have said warrant tears? It was just Nefera overreacting again.

The longer Cleo listened to Nefera's sobs, the less she wanted to hear them. They sounded… strangely _genuine_. It was so _unlike_ her sister.

So she decided to come out from underneath the bed, and make her presence known.

Nefera heard Cleo standing up. She stopped sobbing, in fear someone might have heard her, and got a huge shock just a second later. Nefera didn't know if she should be more shocked about the fact that her room was a complete mess, or about the fact that Cleo heard (and maybe even saw!) Nefera crying in the corner just like one of these losers! She was also not sure if she should get a rage attack or let out her feelings and cry a little more to make Cleo feel sorry.

Well, there Nefera sat with ruined facial make up, swollen eyes, and an open mouth. She was seriously shocked!

Cleo didn't allow her sister the time to get angry, sitting by Nefera in the doorway and wrapping her good arm around her older sis. Ra knew she needed it.

Nefera sighed deeply, thinking about pushing Cleo away. Maybe her head would hit the wall and she would finally…Ugh.

Instead of that, Nefera turned to her sister, hugged her back with also only one of her arms, making this an actual, official hug. It was tight, not too tight, though. Not enough that Cleo would get the feeling of being loved or something silly like that!

Nefera's head fell on Cleo's shoulder before she angrily mumbled, "What in Ra's name did you accident do to my room?"

"Worse than you did to mine, I'll admit… Nothing the servants can't clean up, though." Cleo answered into her sister's teal hair. She smelled of Cyprinum. "What did I do to make _you_ decide to destroy _my_ room, anyway?"

Nefera stopped hugging her sister and made the fakest fake smile ever. "Because you're evil and deserved it."

As if Nefera would say 'Oh little sister, I am so jealous because you have Deuce and all of your friends, and I have no one!' Pah! Cleo will pay for taking away Ramses' attention!

But there was another thing Nefera suddenly noticed. "What is MY diary doing in YOUR hands?!"

Cleo laughed nervously. "I may have… read some of it." but wait - why was she feeling uncomfortable about her sister finding out that she had read her diary? Nefera unlived for attention! And wasn't her sister the one who read Cleo's diary periodically for her own amusement? "I mean, it's not like you don't read _mine_. What, do you think yours isn't _interesting_ enough to be read by other people?"

Nefera aggressively grabbed her diary out of Cleo's hands. She had read Cleo's diary a lot, that was true. And did she regret it? Of course not! As a world-famous supermodel with a royal bloodline Nefera was allowed to do everything she wanted! She was a god-like person and the people had to worship and adore her! Cleo should feel amazing by having Nefera read her diary for her own amusement - Nefera was a superstar after all!

The fact that Cleo had read Nefera's diary was anything but okay, though! Nefera herself could do everything she wanted, but not Cleo! Cleo didn't have any rights!

"Of course my diary is interesting! More interesting than yours will ever be!" She gave her sister a little hit on her head. "But you weren't allowed to read it! It is highly important, personal business stuff I am writing about! My diary is nothing for little rats like you, so GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OF IT!"

Nefera reading Cleo's diary? Of course that was okay! Why shouldn't it be? There was no problem with Nefera doing something against the horrible feeling of boredom that could hurt her delicate psyche immensely!

Cleo reading Nefera's diary? Totally NOT okay! A serious crime that needed to get punished! How could Cleo possibly read through Nefera's private stuff without feeling any regret?!

Argh, always these peasants who couldn't get their dirty hands off of Nefera's precious, personal stuff!

Cleo put her hand up to her head where Nefera had hit her. It didn't hurt, really, which made a change with her sister. "Personal stuff like how you wish I was dead?"

Nefera seemed to be surprised to hear this, but still determined. She made a Tzzz-noise. Nefera looked right into her sister's eyes, there was silence for some seconds. "Perhaps," was the only thing Nefera could come up with as she turned away from her sister, looking into the distance. Cleo wouldn't understand Nefera's feelings anyway. Nobody would. Nobody ever did.

Cleo really didn't know how to respond. Was that really how Nefera felt about her?

As evil as she was, and as often as Cleo had wished her sister were in a different country, or dimension, she had never wished _death_ upon her. How deep did Nefera's feelings go? Did she plan on sneaking into her younger sister's room under cover of darkness and unraveling all of her bandages?

Now Cleo was just being silly; Nefera would never go _that_ far… right?

"You can't really mean that, surely. You'd miss me if anything actually happened, admit it." She had decided that being cocky about it was better than betraying her true thoughts.

Nefera had actually expected Cleo to be sad about her sister's reaction, but, well, if that wasn't the case, maybe Nefera needed to dig deeper to make Cleo feel what she deserved - endless sadness.

Nefera looked at her little sister in anger. She had a terrible temper. Playing with Nefera, especially in such a situation, was like playing with pure fire.

"Shut your mouth! Nobody would miss you!"

"Deuce would." That much she was certain of. She liked to think that the other ghouls would miss her, too, but really her boyfriend was the important one.

It wasn't until she saw the look on Nefera's face that Cleo realised she had voiced her thoughts out loud.

"How sad Deuce doesn't matter," Nefera answered, getting up from the ground. She walked to one of the several mirrors in her room to take a look at her face. Was her make-up still okay? Well, it was passable. Next, Nefera walked back to Cleo and forced her to get up by aggressively pulling her left arm. Cleo stood on her feet again, Nefera's hard grabbings would surely leave a mark.

As if that wasn't already enough, Nefera marched forward without letting go of Cleo, who was forced to follow her sister. Nefera pushed Cleo to the ground again, making her fall right on the mess she had made. "Clean up this mess!" she yelled. Her little sister wouldn't get out of here before personally cleaning this room!


	41. Of the Complimenting Game

"Why do _I_ have to do it? That's what we have _servants_ for! You aren't cleaning _my_ room!" Cleo was becoming increasingly angry with each statement. "And how exactly do you expect me to clean all of this with _one arm_?"

"Because you caused it!" Nefera answered angrily, holding back the urge to kick her sister. "Why should I care how many healthy arms you have?! Maybe you shouldn't have provocked me yesterday, you idiot! Now clean my room before I break another bone for you!"

Cleo began to - very slowly - pick up the items strewn across the floor, all the while scowling at her sister. Nefera, meanwhile, sat down on her couch, reading one of her fashion magazines. She looked over to her sister on occasion to make sure she was doing what Nefera, who had locked the door, wanted her to do. Of course she also continued to command her sister. "Hurry up! We don't have all day!"

It took a good while longer to clean up all of the mess than it had taken Cleo to make it in the first place, but she eventually got the room back in order.

She silently vowed to never do this again - or at least, to not get caught next time.

Putting her hand on her hip, Cleo gave her sister one last glare of defiance; in defiance of what though was a mystery, because she had already done as she was told and cleaned the room. "I'd like to leave now."

Nefera put her magazine away to look at her room. The mess was gone. "Hm, I don't know if I should let you leave just now." She turned to Azura, who ate a piece of melon on the desk next to the couch. "What do you think, Azura? Did our maid do a good job?" She laughed, expecting an answer from her beetle.

Azura didn't answer. "Azura! Answer me!" Still no answer. Silence. Azura continued eating her melon, right as Nefera snapped the beetle off of the plate as a punishment. The poor Azura fell to the ground. "That's what you get for disobeying me!"

 _Uhm, yes, that was perfectly normal._

"And what else, pray tell, do you have in mind for me here?" Cleo asked sarcastically. She just wanted to go back to her own room and have _someone else_ clean up Nefera's mess. Her breakfast was no doubt waiting for her there, too. Probably cold by now.

Nefera sighed. Being her was **so** exhausting! She couldn't take all _this stress_ anymore!

"I feel exhausted by all the work I have done. We should start a nice compliment round to make me feel better."

All the work _Nefera_ had done? Was she serious?!

 _Yes, she was._

Cleo sighed dramatically and sat at the edge of her sister's bed. This was going to take a while.

"Oh, well, where do I _start_?"

Nefera laughed. She felt almost happy. Almost.

"You should start with my outer beauty, then continue with my personality and inner beauty, after it, my achievements, then my talents," Nefera said, making a list in her head. "Oh wait, I'll grab a mirror!"

She got up from the couch, almost stepping on Azura, and took a hand mirror from one of the desks. After it, she sat back on the couch, looking in the mirror she held, smiling at herself.

"You can start now."

Cleo answered through gritted teeth. "Your eyeliner is royally on point today~!"

Nefera looked up from the mirror. "What?! Is that all you have to say?!"

Azura carefully got up from the floor. The beetle hadn't been fed by Nefera, who wasn't eating herself, ans so she was still rather hungry and really wanted to continue eating her melon piece... but wondered if it would really be that good of an idea to get near Nefera again. It looked like she would get angry again. Soon.

Cleo slumped in her seat, sharing the scarabs feelings at wanting to be as far away from her sister as possible. She really didn't want to continue this game.

"Your skin has such a beautiful sheen to it, like a fine coating of precious gold dust.

"The shade of orange you've chosen for your eyeshadow and facial gem is a perfect colour wheel compliment to your amethyst eyes, you really do have impeccable make up tastes.

"Your figure is so absolutely perfect. You could pull off any outfit offered to you, and any photography pose, and with all of your flawlessness there would be no need for photoshop either."

Nefera laughed. No matter how happy she seemed to be, her laugh still sounded evil.

"How about you compliment my personality and inner beauty next?" She asked, smiling. Only idiots couldn't see what a nice and friendly person Nefera was! She had beauty on her in- AND outside. That was what her name was an Ancient Egyptian term for anyway; inner and outer beauty. Something Nefera was born with, though other people had to fight for.

It was by now almost 1:30, way too late for breakfast. But Nefera didn't care. Why should she? Eating was for losers, she thought, just as Azura felt safe enough to fly back on her melon piece to grab another bite.

Cleo grimaced at her sister's demand. _What_ inner beauty?

What was she supposed to tell Nefera about that?

Luckily, Cleo was saved by another knock at the door. It was the servant again, to inform them that lunch had been prepared, and that their father was waiting for his daughters to join him.

Nefera looked over at her servant and gave him an annoyed, angered look. She was anything but pleased. How could he dare to interrupt them like this?! Nefera was sure of it; he would get punished for his rude behavior later!

She turned to her sister. "Well, then you need to tell me about my inner beauty later," the crown princess said, almost emotionless.

Nefera got up and walked out of the room, leaving her sister behind. Yes, perhaps this time she would eat. Cleo followed shortly after, eager to make up for her missed breakfast.

Taking her seat at the dining table, Cleo was immediately surrounded by servants who had been instructed to cut the food for her, since she could not currently handle a knife and fork at the same time, so she decided to have one of them feed her as well. It was some welcome and well deserved attention.

Looking across the table to see whether having the servants fussing over her was annoying her sister yet, she was astonished to see that Nefera was _actually eating_ something. Perhaps things were returning to some degree of normality.

Nefera ignored Baby Cleo. She didn't deserve Nefera's attention anyway. Nobody saw it, but there was a burning fire of rage inside of the older princess . She tried to cheer herself up with thoughts like 'Awwww, is Baby Cleo too small, dumb and immature to eat herself? Poor, poor Baby Cleo!'. It didn't work, though.

Instead of continuing to imagine her sister choking on her food and simply dying, Nefera turned to her father.

"The food is very delicious, father. Thank you for having me here again. I have to say that I did not behave correctly at the brekfast table. I did not want to eat, which was a stupid idea. I have felt pressured by Cleo who had told me I might not be thin enough for my audition. I will not upset you again, father. I hope you forgive me for talking to you in such an unwelcome manner. I will not do it again. I promise."

Nefera smiled at her father. "Did I already tell you how good you look in your designer suit? It looks royally amazing, especially on you, daddy!"

Cleo almost spat out her food at hearing what Nefera had to say about her. That was most definitely _not_ what had happened, and she hoped that their father would pay no attention to it.

But just to be safe, it would probably pay to join in with the conversation. "Oh please, as if just _any_ mummy could pull off the look anyway. Of _corpse_ it looks truly regal on _you_ , daddy."

Nefera looked at her sister, letting her anger out. "Shut your mouth! I was talking to him!"

"NEFERA!"

"…I'm sorry, daddy."


	42. Of Unwanted Assistance

_Author's note:_

 _Trigger warning: Resurfacing themes of bulimia._

* * *

"Have you given your sister a proper apology yet?"

Nefera gave her father a questioning look. He began to yell. "You pushed your sister down the stairs!"

Nefera looked down at her food, not longer wanting to face her family. "I already gave her an apology," she mumbled.

Cleo smiled triumphantly as the servant continued to offer her bites of food. "Well, it wasn't much of an apology, really. I really think you need to say it again, Nefera, so that Daddy can hear it and be sure."

Nefera stared at her sister in anger. "I AM SORRY. How often do I have to say it again?!" She slammed her fist on the table, just like Ramses often used to.

"You should really try to become less aggressive, Nefera," Ramses, who seemed to be calm again, announced. "What should the people think?"

Nefera looked at him. Less aggressive?! Nefera wasn't aggressive! Cleo just deserved to be hurt and brutally injured, that was all!

The young princess in question, meanwhile, took in the ongoing scene; once again, the argument between the members of her family was proving to be some wonderful dinner entertainment. She leaned back, enjoying the show with her stemware in hand.

Nefera tried not to lose her temper and talk in a rather calm and quiet tone as the discussion continued.

"I am really not aggressive, father. I have never been."

Ramses looked at his daughter in disbelief. "My daughter. You have always been. Even as a child."

Suddenly, Nefera's resolution not to lose her temper was gone. "No, I have not!" She yelled, completely losing herself in anger again.

Ramses paid attention to his food again and managed to stay calm, as he voiced his consideration. "Maybe a little therapy against this aggression would do you good."

Nefera coudn't believe what she just had heard! "THERAPY?! Daddy! I don't need a therapy!"

"I will give it some thought."

And with that sentence their discussion was ended.

Cleo was at an utter loss for words herself. Nefera, about to be sent to therapy sessions by their father?

 _Finally._

She absolutely should have been sent to see someone _centuries_ ago. If such a thing actually existed centuries ago…

"I shouldn't worry about it too much," Cleo told her sister in an act of false comforting, "lots of celebrities seek counseling at some point in their lives. You could even write a tell-all book about your experience when you get back into the limelight; I'm sure it would be _very_ popular."

Nefera breathed heavily, she wasn't sure if she should cry, scream, faint or simply just die. Right when she felt as though she was about to have a heart attack, she felt her father's hand on her back. "It is okay, my daughter. As I said, we will think about it."

"I really don't need it, daddy," Nefera said, looking into her father's eyes. Her voice sounded unbelievably sad, so quiet that it was almost unhearable. Nefera was in a deep need of a hug.

 _'Oh, you really,_ really _do.'_ Cleo thought.

The servant dabbed the corners of the princess' mouth once she was done eating. "Daddy, can I watch television in the lounge after lunch? I could do with some light entertainment to take my mind off of my injuries" she asked, _without_ attempting to leave the table just yet; she learned quickly from her past mistakes.

Ramses turned away from Nefera, back to his food. He was done with eating, everyone of them seemed to be. "If you have nothing better to do with your time," Ramses answered, wearing a disapproving face.

"Thank you daddy~" Cleo said in the same tone as if he had just bought her a dozen new pairs of shoes. "I fully intend to go back to my studies when I'm able to, but right now the pain is just far too distracting, there's no way I could possibly give it my full concentration! So yes, unfortunately the T.V. will have to do…" she feigned a look of disappointment at being 'forced' into such an activity.

Ramses made a 'hmm' sound of disapproval as he heard his daughter's answer. "You both can leave if you are done with eating."

The two princesses got up and left the dining hall. Nefera couldn't stop thinking about this stupid 'therapy' thing. Why did Ramses force her to this?! Didn't he love her?! Nefera didn't need a therapy! She was good, she was flawless, she was healthy! Nefera has never made a mistake in her life and every problem she had was Cleo's fault! Should she make a therapy! But not Nefera! She wasn't an insane psycho!

Nefera felt like crying as she entered her private bathroom. She had eaten just to make her father love her again! And what did she get?! More problems! Argh! Couldn't the people around Nefera finally stop making mistakes?!

The princess sighed as she locked the bathroom door. She had thought about this eating thing a lot. She couldn't skip every meal, so why not just throw it up later? No one would notice anyway!

On leaving the dinner table, Cleo decided that, maybe, she should follow Nefera before taking her reward in the lounge area, just to rub some salt in the wound.

When she reached Nefera's rooms, however, she could hear the sound of her sister retching. Was she–? Oh Ra, she really was…

Turning on her heel without even pausing to knock, she went in search of her father instead. She wasn't going to keep covering for Nefera and her weird food issues.

Ramses had left the dining room as well, letting the servants clean the plates, just as always. De Niles do NOT clean. The master of the household just took a seat on his throne in his office when he saw his youngest daughter entering the room. "Daaaddy… I know you said you would _consider_ sending Nefera to see a therapist, but I _really_ think she should. I just went to check on her after the argument at dinner, and I heard her throwing up in her bathroom! I think she was trying to… 'get rid of' lunch."

She paused for a moment, taking a breath after her miniature rant. "Also, I'm really, really sorry, but I lied to you the other day. Nefera didn't come down to supper. I just didn't want you to worry about her, what with the audition coming up… but I thought you should know now."

Ramses looked up from his paperwork in shock. He had expected Cleo to ask for another favor or something like that - he wasn't prepared to hear such a story! Honestly, he had been a father for many, many thousands of years, but had never experienced such a situation. Ramses had no idea how to act. "What?" Silence. "Cleo, are-are you really sure?"

"Absolutely positive."

She wasn't sure if she was telling him out of the hope that Nefera would get in some sort of trouble, or of genuine concern for her sister.

"I think she must have started it to 'look good' for the modelling agency, but now I don't think she's going to stop, Daddy."

Ramses sighed, feeling worse than he had after Cleo's accident. He didn't know what to do. Should he call Nefera in? Should he talk to her later? What should he tell Cleo? He hoped that she wouldn't take her big sister as enough of a role model to do the same thing when she was older!

It might not have been the right decision, but right in this moment Ramses felt that it was best to talk about the problem now. If he talked to her alone later, she wouldn't open up to him anyway, would she?

Opening the door of his private study in search of his older daughter Ramses soon heard the bathroom door opening and the sound of high heels walking out of it.

"Nefera?"

"…Uh, yes?"

"Would you come into my office, please?"

"Sure," Nefera answered nervously as she made her way to the office. What did her father want?! Did Cleo get in trouble again?! Argh, why did this have to happen NOW?! "What's the matter?" She leaned against the door, trying to act cool as she saw that the one seat in front of the throne had already been taken. Both of her father and sister looked really concerned. Nefera wondered what had happened.

Having been left in their father's office for a while when he was off fetching her sister, Cleo had had some time to think on her decision. She was beginning to wonder what sort of consequences it would have between her and Nefera, or more specifically, what Nefera was going to do to her for telling. There wasn't anything she could do to take it back now, though.

She turned to look as the door opened again, with a look of concern both for her sister and for herself. "I'm sorry, Nefera, but Daddy needed to know."

Nefera raised an eyebrow. "Needed to know what?!"

Ramses sat down on his throne again. "We need to talk to you, my daughter."

"Well, what's the matter?" Nefera asked, in a rather angry tone. She had no idea what they wanted to talk about. Perhaps she had done something wrong? Ah, nonsense! Nefera was flawless; everything she did was right. She felt rather more sick than talkative though, after what she had done just a few minutes ago.

Ramses looked over at Cleo. "You may explain." He couldn't explain it himself. He just couldn't.

Cleo looked from her sister to her father and back again. Why did she have to tell her?

Taking a deep breath, Cleo confessed to what she had told Ramses. "I was just telling Daddy that I'm concerned you may have an eating disorder, and we _both_ think that you should seek help for it."

Nefera was shocked! Disorder?! Nefera didn't have a disorder! She was flawless! FLAWLESS!

"Eating disorder?!" She turned to Ramses. "Father!"

"Calm down, Nefera, please."

She turned back to Cleo, not having a clue that she had heard her sister throwing up.

"Why should I have an eating disorder?! You're just jealous because you'll never be as thin as me!" Nefera yelled, pointing at random things in the room. She had lost herself in rage again. The princess felt highly offended! It was unbelievable that Cleo told their father lies just so that he would prefer her! Was it that much of a competition?!

The only thing that could possibly make Cleo upset about not being as thin as Nefera, though, was her sister's extensive wardrobe, and even that wasn't enough to make her follow in the same footsteps.

"Nefera, we've only seen you eat _once_ in the last 3 days… and I just heard you throwing that meal back up. I was walking right outside your bathroom, Nefera. It isn't healthy." Well, now she knew.

Nefera gasped. "W-what?! N-no! I didn't do that! What are you talking about?!" She turned to her father in panic. "Daddy, Cleo is lying!"

Ramses sighed. "Nefera… Why should your sister make up a story like that?"

"Because she wants to ruin me! She wants to make me look bad in front of you! Cleo is pained by the thoughts of envy she keeps having about me!"

Ramses raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I have never thrown up in my life, daddy! I would never do that!"

She turned to Cleo, not realizing that not a single person in the office, except maybe Nefera herself, believed her. "Cleo, why are you lying?!"

Cleo looked her sister dead in the eyes, entirely convinced that _she_ was the one their father would believe this time. "I'm not lying, Nefera, why are you? We're your family… don't you want our help?"

"I don't need any help! I'm fine! I have always been! Maybe you have an eating disorder, but certainly not me!"

Nefera kept yelling without thinking about her words first. She turned to her father again, her eyes got filled with tears and her voice sounded really quiet, sad and whiny.

"I don't have a problem, daddy. I am fine. Really. You have to believe me!"

Nefera wondered if it was a smart idea to start crying now?

Cleo looked away from her sister. She couldn't look at her right now, while she looked so angry, and upset, and… scared?


	43. Of Taking Revenge

Nefera didn't want to be here anymore. "Can I go to my room now?"

Her father sounded as though he was about to start yelling again. "You will not do this to your body anymore, Nefera! It is anything but healthy!"

She yelled as well, trying to explain her point. "But I didn't DO anything, daddy!"

He angrily looked at the telephone on his desk. "I will call someone to meet with you. You will get an appointment and will hopefully feel better after some sessions."

"Father!"

Ramses didn't want to discuss this topic anymore. He had made his decision, and he was not going to change his opinion. "You both can leave now. Thank you for informing me, Cleo. And, Nefera, promise me not to do this again."

"I never did anything!"

"ARGH! Leave my office!"

Cleo decided to give her sister a wide berth as they left the office… it was probably best to be as far away as possible from her at the moment, especially given the fact that she seemed so utterly convinced that she hadn't done anything deserving of this in the first place.

Re-entering her room, Cleo was met by the mess Nefera had made that morning; she had completely forgotten about it until now. Calling for some of the servants to deal with it for her (especially after having to clean Nefera's room for her, _uugh_ ), she sat on the bed with her cracked picture frames, admiring the memories the pictures held while she waited for them to be finished.

Nefera was probably expecting to find Cleo in the lounge at the moment, and she really didn't want to end up meeting with her sister so soon after the conversation in their father's office, so her television time would have to wait for a short while.

Oh, Nefera was sooo gonna get Cleo, no matter where she was. The princess walked down into the lounge to look for her little sister. She wasn't there.

Too scared to come out, hm, little sister?

Cleo was probably either in bath or in her own room, so that's where Nefera checked next. She had thought about writing her feelings in her diary, but she didn't want to do that before a certain someone was found.

She opened the door to Cleo's room, without knocking or otherwise showing any respect for Cleo's privacy. Why should she care? Cleo didn't seem to care about privacy either, did she?

Cleo looked up from her pictures, there was someone standing in front of her, leaning against the wall with crossed arms and a stare, worthy of a serial killer. She smiled sheepishly at her sister. It was too late to take back anything she had said in their father's office now; it was best to just go with it, wherever things headed. Besides, she _had_ been the one in the right.

"I know what you're thinking, but it's really for the best."

Nefera wanted to say something back, but she decided to turn to the servant who was cleaning the mess in the room first. The serial killer stare she sent him made the servant immediately understand that it was best to leave the room now. He left without daring to comment the situation. Nefera turned back to her sister.

"The best? Oh, you little disappointment. Your birth was the worst event that has ever happened in my life. And, trust the gods, I will make you pay for what you did to me. No matter the cost. I will throw you down the stairs again. Twice. I will break your bones. All of them. Watch yourself, you're playing with fire. Oh, and this time, there's no one who's gonna keep you safe. No mommy, no Daddy. No Deucey."

"And this is exactly why Daddy wants to send you to a psychiatrist," Cleo retorted with a sway of her head and one extended finger. "Listen to yourself Nefera! You sound like one of our uncles, and _not_ the one with the fancy boat."

Was it a bad idea to compare her sister to the man who had had their family mummified alive and sealed away for 1,300 years? Probably. But right now, it seemed like an accurate analogy; Nefera would no doubt have the same done to her sister again - right now - if she could.

Nefera laughed. "You stupid, stupid little child. Didn't we learn how to talk to our older sibling?" She made a fake smile right before hitting Cleo's head and smashing the broken pictures she was holding in her hand away.

She grabbed Cleo's right arm, injured or not, Nefera didn't care. She smashed her little sister against a near wall. "You deserve to die!" Nefera yelled, not thinking of her words.

She grabbed random objects in the room that were near her to throw them against her little sister and hit her head with them. "You are ugly! You are fat! You are stupid! You are worthless!" Nefera yelled, not being in control of her self at all.

How weird that these were the things Nefera's mind often told HER when she was alone. Why did she make Cleo hear them? Envy? Pain? Pure sickness?

Cleo picked up one of the overstuffed pillows from her bed to shield her from the objects Nefera was throwing, each one making a dull thud as they hit the plush surface.

"Nefera!" _thud_ "Will you stop" _thud_ "throwing things" _thud_ "at me! I was just trying to" _thud_ "help you!"

And that was her big mistake, wasn't it? Obviously Nefera didn't, or couldn't, recognise that she needed any help, so Cleo decided that next time she wouldn't bother. It was better to focus on the well-being of other, more important, people. Namely herself.

Nefera grabbed Cleo's pillow and threw it to the ground. Next she hit her sister with her hands, grabbed hold of her head and hit it against the hard wall. Again and again. "Shut uuuuuuup! I don't need help!" When would Cleo finally start crying to make her sister feel powerful?!

Cleo did cry. She cried and she screamed.

If this didn't give her a cracked skull to go with her fractured clavicle, then the harsh motion of being pushed into the wall was certainly going to at least dislodge the bone before it could set properly.

Not that Cleo was really thinking about that right now. It was difficult to put together a strong, continuous train of thought while your face was being forced into a solid object over and over again.

So mostly, she cried. And screamed.


	44. Of Unhappy Returns

Ahhhhh~ Finally Cleo cried! Nefera tried her best not to laugh. Finally Cleo got what she deserved!

Nefera sat down on a nearby chair. She pulled Cleo's head with her, which made the younger princess' lower body fall to the ground on her knees. A noise from Cleo's broken collar was heard as Nefera made her sister's head lay on her lap.

The crown princess pet her crying sister's face with the bony fingers on her cold hands. "You are crying like a little child," she said, not feeling any regret. Cleo continued crying when Nefera said something in an entirely emotionless tone. "I hope you have learned your lesson. Telling Daddy lies about me was a mistake you shouldn't have made."

Lies? Oh, yes, lies…

Cleo simply cried louder as she felt the pain in her shoulder flare up again, not bothering to answer her sister; something had definitely moved, and she pulled her good hand up to her collar bone instinctively, curling her fingers over the source of the pain.

Where was everyone else in the palace? Were there no servants within hearing range of her room? Why was no one coming to help her?

"Answer me!" Nefera yelled, pulling Cleo's hair.

Before Cleo could say anything back, their father opened the door. "Why are you ghouls so loud?!" He got a huge shock when he saw what was happening. "NEFERA!"

The princess gasped, letting go of her little sister. "It's just…uhh…we were…playing…a game." She smiled nervously, knowing that Ramses didn't believe her lie. "What brings you here, dearest father?"

"The crying screams of your little sister bring me here! What did you do?! Your sister has a broken bone! Did you forget that?!" Ramses yelled angrily as he helped his younger daughter to get up from the floor.

Cleo's nose had begun to bleed from stress. She could feel something trickling from her nostril, and raised her shaking hand from her collar to her face, dabbing a finger there to confirm that, yes, it was blood. She fell from her kneeling position to sit on the floor, looking completely pathetic as she continued to sob. "Da-ddy…" she chocked out between tears "I n-need to go to the h-hospital again."

With seeing this, Ramses gave Nefera a hard hit on her head. She made a sobbing noise; Ramses had never hit either of his daughters before.

Ramses was shocked! He had planned to do his paperwork and have a talk to his older daughter about her food issues, but it didn't seem like he was going to do anything of that this day. He immediately helped Cleo to get up. De Niles do NOT sit on the dirty floor, choking on tears!

He put his hand on Cleo's back, leading her downstairs. There were several servants taking care of Cleo and her bleeding nose. The princess and her servants were heading outside.

As Cleo walked down the stairs in tears, she could still hear her father yelling. It wasn't long until Ramses came down to Cleo to bring her to the hospital… again. Nefera had serious aggression problems! She would be punished!


	45. Of Truths and Lies

This was the second time in as many days that Cleo had required medical attention, and she hoped to all of the gods that it didn't become any more of a trend.

She was taken to be x-rayed again almost immediately, and a doctor explained the situation to Cleo's father. "We will need to assess the displacement of your daughter's collar bone," he informed Ramses. "If the break has become worse and we aren't able to set the bone back into place to heal naturally, then it may be necessary to perform a small surgical procedure to fix the fractured clavicle together with a reconstruction plate."

It was probably just as well that he had discussed the matter with Mr. de Nile while Cleo was in a separate room. The idea of having to be cut open and stitched together again was _not_ something that sat right with her. Who did they think she was, Frankie Stein? No, she was an Egyptian princess! She couldn't be left with a single scratch.

Well, after this conversation with the doctor Ramses was even more shocked. Surgery?! No person in their family had ever gotten surgery! Those doctors had better not leave any marks or scars on a de Nile!

Their trip to hospital took many hours, as it had done the day before. When Cleo, Ramses and their servants were finally on their way back to the palace, Ramses was as concerned as he was last time. "My daughter. How could this happen?" He needed a logical explaination for Nefera's behavior! How could she do this?! How could she do this to her own sister?!

"Nefera–" Cleo stopped herself from speaking before she could say anything else to send her for her third trip to the hospital. Maybe it was just better to do as her sister wanted…

"Nefera was angry because I lied to you, daddy, about her eating disorder. I-I didn't want to get her in trouble! I just thought that, maybe, if you thought there was some kind of impact on Nefera's health, too, and not just the - the _violence_ \- then maybe you would decide that she needed help sooner…"

If she wasn't putting herself at fault, Cleo might have been impressed with her own acting skills. "… I'm really, _really_ sorry, Daddy. I never meant for it to go this far."

Ramses gasped. "Cleo! You can't lie to me! Especially not about such topics!" He turned away from her, removing the hand he had placed on his daughter's shoulder.

Of course, what Nefera did, hurting Cleo like this, was not right. But what Cleo did was not right either!

It quickly became visible that Ramses had already chosen his favorite daughter a long, long time ago…

"No wonder your sister is angry! You know she gets angry fast, why do you lie about her like this?! Weren't you thinking of your already broken bone, Cleo?!"

He sighed, thinking of his favorite daughter. "How could I have been so blind? I should have known that Nefera would never harm herself like this!"

Oh yeah, because Nefera is sooooo flawless and god-like. Poor, poor Nefera. She must feel soooo bad. Cleo had heard this often. Really, really often. She looked down at the floor of their litter, put down once again by her father's favoritism. As thankful as she was that the doctor had been able to set her broken bone again without surgery, her father's words cut deeper than any scalpel; they just left less visible scars.

Ramses continued looking straight forward, mentioning his thoughts about Nefera without even thinking about the fact that his words hurt Cleo's feelings.

"Your poor sister. She must feel very disappointed and misunderstood. She was just trying to lose a little weight by eating a little less to impress the people at the agency." He paused. "And you just come to me and… and lie! Lie about such a drastic thing!" He turned to Cleo.

It seemed like Ramses' feelings of shock and sadness had turned into feelings of rage and disapproval. "Your sister said she didn't make herself… do this! Why didn't you say anything?! Why did you keep on lying?! Didn't you see how you made us feel?!"

Suddenly Deuce came into Ramses' mind. "Are you doing this for fun?!" He got louder. "Do you think this situation is a joke?!"

Argh, it was all Cleo's fault! And if they had needed to perform surgery on Cleo, she would get a scar! Ramses didn't want to have a daughter with a scar!

Cleo looked back up, startled by her father's insinuations. "NO! No, of course not! I just thought… I just thought that it would help, even if it was a… lie." Was she talking about then, or now? She wasn't sure any more.

"Help?! That wouldn't have helped! Nefera doesn't need a therapy! …At least not for an 'eating disorder' you have made up, young lady!"

He looked forward again, ready to end the conversation. There was still one last thing he had to say, though. The pharaoh turned to his daughter again. "The moment we arrive at home, you will give your sister a proper apology! She really needs one after what you've done!" And suddenly the fact that Nefera's violence had brought her little sister to the hospital didn't seem to matter anymore. The only thing that seemed to matter was that Nefera and Ramses liked each other. Sometimes Cleo just seemed, and maybe even felt, like an object her father and sister liked to use.

"… Yes, daddy."

Cleo supposed that perhaps going along with the apology would let Nefera know that her sister had done as she was asked threatened to, and then she would (hopefully) leave her alone.

Several minutes passed in silence before they arrived back at the palace. Ramses and Cleo had been gone for about 3 hours, leaving Nefera enough time to worry about unlife. She had written in her diary, had her servants give her a high amount of compliments, telling her how she was right and Cleo was wrong, and had thrown up once… That had been accidentally and just because of pure stress, of course…

Right when Cleo and Ramses came back, the Pharaoh walked upstairs to Nefera's room, expecting his youngest daughter to follow him. Now they would give Nefera, a proper apology …Okay, not 'they'. Only Cleo. Ramses was flawless, he did not make mistakes, so there was nothing he had to apologise for. Ramses entered the room first, before ushering Cleo to stand in front of him so that she could make her announcement to Nefera.

She stood uneasily, picking at the edge of her sling and avoiding eye contact with her sister.

Nefera was expecting her father to angrily yell at her, talking about Cleo's health state. But that was not what he did. Cleo's heath state didn't seem to be as important as Nefera's 'feelings'.

"My daughter. Cleo told me the truth. She has to tell you something now," Ramses said, turning to Cleo.

Nefera was really confused. What did Cleo do?! She looked at her sister, waiting for what she had to tell her.

Cleo took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry, Nefera, for lying about you to daddy and making you upset. I shouldn't have told him what I did, and I hope you can accept my apology."

This was so _backwards_ , but Cleo was only looking out for herself. It was all in her best interest really, wasn't it?

Nefera was shocked! She didn't really think that her sister would go that far; lying to daddy by telling him she had lied before? What an amazing action! At least for Nefera and the most important thing ever: her own well-being.

Since Nefera was a pro at acting, she didn't have a problem with showing off her skills. Especially not in this royally cool situation!

The princess touched her forehead with her hand, taking a deep breath. "Oh Cleo… What you did was unbelievably mean, but, as a totally loving and caring older sister… I forgive you!"

Suddenly there was pure sadness in Nefera's face. Sadness that was so fake that only Cleo was able to see it. "I was so upset when you told Daddy such a drastic thing! I would never make myself throw up!"

 _And I also didn't do it again this evening when you weren't here._

She looked into her father's eyes, almost faking tears, using a super dramatic voice for her next sentence. "Oh, daddy. Why didn't you believe me?" Nefera liked making herself appear as the victim!

He sighed and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. That meant much. It really did. "Nefera…" _I should have believed you instead of always only caring about my stupid paperwork and the appearance of our family in public._ "It was Cleo's fault. How could I know she'd lie about such a drastic thing?!"

Nefera sighed, trying not to laugh. She looked over to her sister who was standing there alone, without her father, who stood next to his favorite daughter, by her side. "You made us feel very upset, Cleo. Daddy and me, we are very disappointed. How could you do this to us? We are a family! Don't you love us?"

Ramses was impressed by Nefera's skill of talking to her sister like that! She would surely make a good parent someday! With a man Ramses would choose for her, of course.

"Of course I do, Nefera," _sometimes_ , "But like I already told Daddy, I just thought that thinking you were in some sort of danger might give him the push to seek therapy for you sooner, like we were talking about at breakfast. I know you thought I was trying to get you in trouble, but I really was only thinking of you! But I went about things the wrong way, and I see that now."

Yes, the wrong way in trying to go behind Nefera's back and tell their father for her. Better to have him discover it on his own, or have Nefera tell him - but that would never happen.

What Cleo needed was some kind of plan to get back at her sister. One that couldn't be brought back down on her own head.

Nefera started yelling again. Cleo was an idiot and Nefera hated her stupidity! She should she just leave and never come back! "But I don't need any therapy! Maybe you need one! One against lying!"

She turned to her father and said the sentence "Daddy, I think Cleo doesn't love us" in a completely emotionless tone.

Ramses raised an eyebrow, deciding to ignore this comment. "Cleo, you will get punished if you ever lie to me again! I am your father and what you did was really, really wrong!"

Oh Ra, was this going to be another one of his overly-long lectures? Cleo rolled her eyes, preparing herself for the impending speech. "Daddy, would it maybe be better to continue this talk in my own room? Or perhaps your office, if you prefer. I'm sure Nefera would probably like for me to leave now, after what I did."

At least in either of these new locations she might have a chance to sit down while her father talked about the 'importance if honesty in keeping up appearances as a de Nile', because her legs were surely going to give out if she had to stand for the entire seminar.

It was Nefera who answered. "No! I am fine with staying here! I would really like to hear what you have to tell Cleo, daddy! Your parenting skills always fascinate me, so I would love to hear how you handle the situation! You know, someday I want to raise my children as good as you have raised me!"

The fact that Nefera couldn't stand children, romance and/or intimacy was nothing she seemed to care about at this particular moment. It was nothing her father, or anyone else, needed to know anyway.

That was enough to make Ramses stay here. "I think changing the location is not necessary right now, Cleo."

Nefera gave her sister an evil-looking smile. Cleo was sure, her sister was made out of pure evil.

Cleo held back from screaming at her sister and simply crossed her arms - or, more accurately, created a semblance of arm-crossing by folding her left arm below her sling to loosely hold her right elbow.

"Well then, if that's the case, please begin. We're _both_ dying to hear your knowledgeable advice." ... hopefully she didn't sound too sarcastic. It was hard to pretend that she cared about the contents of a lecture on something that wasn't even her fault in the first place.

Too sarcastic? Yes, that sounded too sarcastic. "My daughter! Are you getting rude?! I can also punish you right now, if you think a lecture isn't appropriate! Claiming that your sister has an eating disorder wasn't appropriate either!"

Nefera looked at her father, smiling, thinking of what a great day it just was! Cleo was in trouble, Ramses surely loved her more than her sister, and she had even lost some weight! Could unlife get any better?

Ramses looked at Cleo and saw the look she was giving him. "That is enough! Come on, Nefera, we will go eat dinner while your sister stays in her room and continues to revise for her lessons with the new mentor she will be getting!"

The pharaoh marched out of the room in anger. Nefera used an extremely sweet and happy voice to answer him. "I'm coming, daddy!"

She walked to the door, turning around to her sister a last time. "Awww, did daddy reject us again?" She asked with a smile even eviller than the one before. Nefera began to laugh. Yes, life could have gotten better! And it really did!


	46. Of Taking Action

_Author's note:_

 _Trigger warning - bulimia_

Cleo gave her sister a look of 'I hate you and everything that you stand for' and immediately left for her own room, collapsing face down onto the bed - gently; she didn't want to aggravate her shoulder any more than it already had been. There was _no way_ she was doing any more studying. Even the combined force of Thoth and Seshat couldn't convince her otherwise.

She turned to lie more comfortably, on her back, looking up at the ceiling. She would just lie here, and wait for things to be better than they were now.

Maybe if she went to sleep, then she would wake up to realise that the last two days had all just been a bad dream, and it was really only now just the morning of Nefera's audition. Maybe Nefera would actually pass, and then she could move away to Europe and stop ruining everything. Or maybe it would be earlier than that, and she would wake up to her final day of school to find that she had passed with flying colors and didn't have to spend her vacation being removed from school and, ultimately, her local society.

As if. But for now, she could pretend.

Nefera walked down to the dining hall. Luckily Cleo was not eating with them! Eating with Cleo was gross. Why? Well, because she was Cleo, that's why!

Ramses, who was sure that Nefera had no problems with food, made known how angry he was at Cleo from the second the two of them had taken their seats, Nefera, of course, agreed with her father.

The food was brought in and Nefera noticed that there was no food with less than the calorie amount she wanted to eat! What a shame! Were the servants to stupid to serve Nefera, the queen and goddess of everything and anything, proper food?!

Nefera thought about telling her father that she wasn't hungry and had eaten before, but decided not to go for that kind of excuse. It would probably give Ramses another opportunity to think about his daughter's 'unhealthy' relation to food again. Even if Nefera _had_ no issues with food!

So the princess decided to eat as much and as normally as usual, without letting her father notice anything. She could just throw it up later, couldn't she? … Argh, of course she could! Yes, that WAS healthy and normal! People who thought different were just stupid idiots!

Lying under the canopy of her bed, Cleo came to a sudden revelation: nothing was going to change unless she tried to change it. Her father would never believe her if she spoke a word out of turn about Nefera, especially after today, but maybe, just maybe, she could find some kind of proof.

Perhaps it was mentioned in Nefera's diary somewhere? If she could find it, then Nefera would practically be telling their father the truth of it herself! It was such a brilliant idea, even Ma'at herself would have been impressed.

Yes, there would be justice.

Knowing that Nefera would be taking dinner with their father, Cleo had no problems in sneaking back down the halls to her sister's bedroom to search for her diary and check its contents. Again, Cleo checked the last few pages. There was a new entry Nefera had made just some hours ago.

 _5 July_  
 _I can't believe what happened! It is quite a long and horrible story. So, I was trying to lose some weight. For the appointment…and for me. And for Daddy because I know how much he despises too heavily-set people. My mind is masterful and I had the idea to just starve myself without my father noticing anything. I soon realized that this was not going to work, because someday daddy would totally notice it. The gods know, he would force me to eat again!_

 _As you know, I am incredibly smart, so I just threw up some of my food. It wasn't a shame, nor a big deal, just something that really needed to be done. Completely understandable, right? Right. What I did was perfectly fine, but that idiot of a sister really had the audacity to stalk me and tell daddy about it!_

 _Later, I gave her what she deserved; pain. I have to feel pain as well, so why not Cleo too? An intelligent idea, I know. Except for the fact that Baby Cleo couldn't stop herself from crying and screaming. She was taken to the hospital again and now it is evening and I am alone. Daddy was furious! I think the best thing to do is to not eat and keep on throwing up until I am skinny enough to regain my father's love and the media's attention._

Cleo clasped the book to her chest - this was exactly what she had been hoping for!

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching. High heeled footsteps. _Nefera_.

Cleo froze in panic, but quickly realized that the steps didn't sound quite as though they were heading for the bedroom, but rather straight towards her sister's bathroom. Cleo grabbed Nefera's iCoffin from its dock and crept towards the door, already setting the phone to its video recorder app. If she was heading there for the reason Cleo suspected she was, then this would provide even more proof!

Nefera's plan (the one not to have her father notice that she didn't want to eat at all) had worked! So now the princess stood in front of her bathroom once again. She had seen her father going in his office just a minute ago. She knew that it was paperwork he was going to do. She looked around. Was anyone there? No servant, no little sister, no nothing. Nobody would notice a thing! So the princess walked into her bathroom and quietly locked the door. It was none of their business that Nefera was going to stick her finger into her throat, after all.

Cleo poked the iCoffin out of her sister's bedroom door as the bathroom one began to close, just catching the image of Nefera's profile as it was shut out of view and the lock clocked into place.

Creeping towards the door, Cleo held the camera as close as she dared in order to catch any sounds coming from inside.

Nefera, in the bathroom, looked in one of the mirrors once again. She really looked pale and felt kinda…weak?

Ah, whatever! Nefera knew what was best for her (and everyone else!), and at least she would finally be skinny after continuing this for some weeks. Nobody would find out and Nefera would be super skinny and everyone admired and talked about her! Right? Right.

First a coughing, then a retching sound was heard. The toilet flushed several times.

Nefera was done, but she wasn't stupid (duh)! She knew what could happen after what she did, so the princess brushed her teeth. Two times, just to be safe.

Suddenly Nefera felt sort of… faint? She sat down for a moment, facing the ground. She felt weak, sick and disgusting all together. For a long while, Nefera felt like she had to throw up again, but maybe it was just her inner sadness coming up? Sadness she had been feeling for days? Weeks? Decades?

Nefera quickly realized that she couldn't be alone. Never. She always had to talk to someone, so her own thoughts wouldn't kill her.

Before checking her pale face and weak-looking figure in the mirror again, she unlocked and opened the door; Cleo, who had heard (and recorded!) everything that had happened in Nefera's bathroom, stood right in front of her with crossed arms and a stern look. Nefera gasped, suddenly hearing her own heart beating.


	47. Of Ultimatums

"You know you can't carry on with this, Nefera. Other people _will_ find out about this." Cleo announced. She decided to keep the recording to herself for now, and let her sister make her own decision on how to handle things. "Sooner or later, daddy is going to realize what you're doing - you should tell him the truth now, before things go any further."

Nefera's hand went to her heart and she gasped another time. "Oh little sister," she said through clenched teeth. "Are you stalking me? Or what are you doing here, **again**?" Nefera clenched her teeth so much that it was hard to understand what she was saying. The princess felt too embarrassed to freak out or even _recognize_ the fact that her younger sister had her iCoffin _and_ diary in her hand. Nefera tried her best not to blush too much. She just hoped that Cleo hadn't been standing there for too long.

Cleo shook her head "I'm making sure Daddy knows whats really happening in his household. You can't keep this a secret forever, Nefera - and this time, _you_ have to be the one to tell him."

Nefera was in full panic mode. Her heart started beating louder and faster and her hands were suddenly shaking. "C-Cleo! N-No! It's not like that!"

She laughed nervously, trying to hide her insecurities and fears. Nefera laid her arm around Cleo's back in a friendly way and turned her to another direction, away from the bathroom. "How about we just don't tell Daddy anything about this?" She asked through clenched teeth, forcing herself to give her sister a smile.

The younger of the two showed her sister the iCoffin display. "Oh, we don't have to 'tell' him anything. Why not just _show_ him instead?" She clicked the phones touch screen, replaying her recording. " _Or even better,_ why not show the whole world?" She clicked back off the playback, holding the iCoffin close to her chest to prevent Nefera from snatching it away. "One click, and I can have the footage uploaded to **all** of _**your**_ social media pages - Critter, CryptPlace, FaceSpook…"

Cleo was done with playing her sister's games. She smiled to herself, knowing that Nefera was going to have to play hers for now instead.

Nefera was shocked! How could her sister do this to her?! Cleo was a sick psycho who was completely unable to feel love, trust, regret or empathy, Nefera was sure of it! She wondered if she should play the 'I am your older sister and I love you' card or the 'I am your older sister and I hate you' card now. She eventually decided to go for the second one.

The crown princess aggressively tried to grab her iCoffin. She pushed Cleo away and hit her several times. "You little, little failure! Give me back my phone or I'll send you to the hospital again!" Nefera angrily yelled at her sister. She was definitely not scared of hurting her a third time. Cleo deserved bleeding wounds and scars for her rude behavior!

Cleo clutched the iCoffin tighter and backed away into her sister's room, shutting the door and clicking the latch securely closed. "I'm posting it right now!" she yelled through the locked door.

"NO!" Nefera screamed. One click and her whole unlife could be destroyed! Damaged. Ruined. Forever.  
Other people could get over it, yes, but not Nefera. She quickly understood that threatening Cleo wouldn't work. At least not in this kind of situation.

Instead of getting angry, she tried the 'I am just a sad little ghoul, show some empathy' card. Nefera had many, many faces.

Her voice became quiet and whiny, almost depressed. "No, Cleo, please don't post it!" She tried to stay calm, even if the princess was one second away from a heart attack. One click and she would burst out in tears.

Cleo's thumb hovered over the 'upload' button. "And why shouldn't I? I know you aren't ever going to change by yourself." _and you deserve this after everything you've done to me this summer._

Nefera stood right in front of the door. The princess talked much faster than usually, trying to please her sister somehow.

"No, Cleo, really, I'm gonna change! You can't do this to me! I do everything you say, just give me back my iCoffin and don't upload the record!"

Nefera's voice was shacky. She already thought of the bridge she would choose to jump off of. Maybe the big one in the park would be good, so everyone could see that the poor, poor Nefera was the victim again. Everyone would feel sorry for her! Maybe there would even be a movie about her tragic story and she would be celebrated as a goddess after her death? Maybe, when she was dead, the media would finally love her? Too bad Nefera wouldn't see how they adored her! And all of it would be Cleo's fault!

Cleo unlocked the door and opened it just enough to peek out of the room at her sister, who looked on the verge of tears. "… Anything?"

Suddenly Nefera seemed to be rather excited. Her heart started pounding faster again. "Anything and everything!"

At first, she considered having Nefera humiliate herself with menial labor and household chores for her own amusement, but ultimately, Cleo gave her sister a stern look and told her: "Then you have to tell our father that you agree to go to counseling sessions - even if it's only for 'anger issues', I won't force you to tell him about your eating disorder, but you have to get _some_ kind of help. And you need to stop all of the not eating nonsense, or I _will_ film you again and next time I _will_ post it."

She was about to open the door further and hand Nefera her phone back, but quickly stopped herself as more conditions came to mind. "Oh, and I want you to stop calling me 'little failure' and telling me that I'm adopted and unloved. And I want everything back that I bought at the maul last week... _And_ my scarab earrings. Do we have a deal?"

Nefera crossed her arms. Cleo was an evil creature. All the things she wanted were impossible for Nefera to do and even more than hellish. It was already clear that Nefera might not survive this day!

"Deal," she eventually answered through clenched teeth. Throwing up at night was better anyway! "Now give me back my-," the princess suddenly stopped, seeing the other thing her little sister had in her hand. "You read my diary again?! You little…accident. Give it back!"

"You can have that back too, Nefera, as soon as I have _my_ stuff back." Cleo responded, opening the door to allow Nefera back into her own bedroom. "So, where is everything?"

Nefera entered her bedroom with crossed arms. "It's somewhere here," she said angrily. Nefera opened her huge closet and took a little look. She grabbed Cleo's clothes and threw them on the floor in front of her little sister. "They're too big for me anyway!"

Nefera crossed her arms again after closing her closet. "Your stupid earrings are on the desk somewhere, can I get my phone and diary back now?!"

Cleo scowled at her sister's lack of care for her belongings and the little weight comment and set the diary and phone down on the desk, slipping the earrings into her ears - awkwardly, seeing as she only had her left hand with which to do it - in exchange. "There, you have them back now. But we need to talk."


	48. Of Ignored Advice

_Author's note:_

 _Trigger warning - bulimia talk_

* * *

Nefera marched to her desk, 'accidentally' walking over Cleo's clothes on the floor. Was it Nefera's fault that her sister was too dumb to pick up her stuff from the ground?!

She quickly grabbed her phone when she reached the desk, immediately deleting the record Cleo had made. Ahhh, Nefera felt much much better now. She would hide her diary later, so nobody would ever find it again!

"Talk?!" Nefera wanted to yell at Cleo, but she suddenly had a better idea. "Talk is like the dessert sand; it is worth nothing, and changes direction with the four winds," she eventually answered. Ah, Ramses would be proud of his oldest daughter if he had heard that.

Cleo would very much like to have the four winds blow that desert sand directly in her sister's face, but for now she just stomped her foot and sounded an 'ughh' of distress. "Nefera, this is serious! Do you know how many more problems your causing for yourself with your 'slimming regime'? It won't solve anything for you, and you'll only end up worse off for it!"

If nothing else, Cleo hoped that maybe maybe the other adverse effects on her appearance might be enough to convince her narcissistic sister that it was a bad idea to continue as she was. But Nefera just made a dismissive tzzz-noise and kept her arms crossed. "I know how serious this is! You better stop saying that I have an eating disorder! Because I don't have an eating disorder! I don't have any disorders, to be exact!"

Again, Nefera was seconds from freaking out. She had already reached the point where she yelled, no matter how loud it was, and pointed at random things in the room, no matter how neurotic it looked.

"You are just trying to find flaws on me, but there are none! Because, unlike you, I am flawless!" She wondered if the hospital would be a better place for Cleo to be right now. Probably.

"Have you read your _own diary_ , Nefera? You admitted that you were trying to starve yourself to get even thinner than you already are, _and_ that you've been throwing up your meals to stop Daddy from being suspicious about you not eating! That is a _disorder_. It's unhealthy. And even if you don't think it's a 'flaw' now, do you know how many other flaws it can leave you with?" She took a deep breath and held out her hand "Give me your iCoffin, I need to show you something."

Nefera lost her senses and felt extrememy offended by Cleo's answer. She started to breath heavily. "You stupid…Argh! Leave me alone! I don't have any problems!" She was beginning to talk louder and faster, without thinking about a word she said. "I know what's good for me!"

She grabbed her iCoffin and took a seat on her bed. "I feel so sick," she said quietly, placing her hand on her forehead. In this moment it seemed like Nefera would start crying, but that was not what she did. "YOU MAKE ME FEEL SICK!" She yelled at her little sister.

Nefera wanted to get up and hit her Cleo again, but she suddenly felt very faint, unable to get up. She started coughing. "I won't give you my iCoffin," Nefera said weakly after coughing, trying to make her heart beat slower. She failed at the attempt to make Cleo think there was nothing wrong with her. Of course there was something wrong! Nefera was just unable to see it.

Cleo rolled her eyes at Nefera's display "I'm not going to do anything bad to your iCoffin, and I'm not going to infect you with anything." She sat on the bed next to her sister, which was arguably quite a brave move, and tried again. "Just give me your phone, Nefera. You need to see this, and it won't take a minute."

Nefera gave Cleo her phone before turning away and coughing another time. "If it is something YOU show me, it can't be interesting anyway," Nefera still said, failing another attempt to hurt her sister. It was obvious that the immature one of the two sisters was Nefera, even if 'immature' was a word she liked to call her Cleo, for the simple fact that she was the youngest. Maybe maturity and age weren't that closely related.

Cleo performed a quick web search on her sister's phone, coming up with several pages on other people's experience with anorexia and bulimia, the other negative effects that such conditions could have on a person's health and physical appearance, and testimonials from models that had previously suffered from eating disorders because of peer pressure. She held the phone so that her sister could easily see the screen, but kept hold of it herself to scroll through the web pages read allowed some of the text.

Nefera laughed. She shook her head and said, "Oh, Cleo. You are overreacting. AGAIN." She pet her sisters head, not bothering to give the texts any more attention.

"What you are doing is pathetic and immature. These texts don't describe or relate to me in any way and I do not bother to know the effect on those people's health. Why should I care?"

She looked forward, just like so often, pretending to be the victim. "It is so mean that you act like I had such a brutal disorder. You hurt me, Cleo, you really do. I am perfectly healthy."

Nefera suddenly turned back to her sister, motherly putting her hand on Cleo's back. "But maybe you are not. Do YOU have a problem, Cleo?"

 _'Yes. You_.' Cleo though, but instead she snapped back "No, of course I don't have any problems! … Well, my shoulder is an issue, but that's it! I'm perfectly fine!"

Nefera made a tutting sound and held back her smirk. "That's what they all say." Some people said Nefera brain-washed others, but these people were idiots. Nefera just manipulated them a little, that was all!

She made a serious face and put on a soft, emotional voice while directly looking into her sister's eyes. "I think you don't see your own problems here, Cleo. It seems like you are ruined - broken inside. Is something wrong? You can tell me anything, really!" Nefera tried to act as much as her mother did back then as possible, so Cleo would trust her sister and feel safe around her. But why actually not? Playing with other people's feelings and emotions was fun!

Cleo looked away from her sister. She was having trouble, she had been all summer. But this wasn't about her! She was supposed to be the one helping Nefera with _her_ issues!

"Fine, I'll tell you something that's been bothering me, if you will tell me something that's been bothering you."

Nefera laughed another time. Cleo's attempt for control was pathetic. Nobody could control Nefera, she was boss, after all! But she wasn't mean or anything like that, that's why the crown princess decided to agree. "Fine. You start."

"Okay then," Cleo sighed, taking a deep breath before confessing her troubles to her sister, "I don't think that it's fair that I'm not allowed to go back to Monster High at the end of this summer. I didn't do anything! And even _you_ know that, Nefera - Azura is fine."

Nefera raised an eyebrow. That's all Cleo had to say?! Her answer was so boring that Nefera didn't even feel like acting motherly anymore! Cleo didn't deserve a mother anyway. Only Nefera did.

"That's all you have?!" Nefera thought of hitting her sister and forcing her to say more, but she decided to keep playing the role of the victim. "It really hurts me that you don't even love me enough to say the truth - what you really feel.

Azura could have died and it's all your fault, Cleo. Don't you feel bad about it? Don't you have a soul?" Nefera seemed to be completely serious. That's what happens to you when you believe your own lies.

She pointed at her pet scarab who was on the desk. "Azura might never recover from what you did to her." The scarab beetle looked completely fine, eating a melon piece from a golden plate.

Cleo was gobsmacked "But I didn't DO anything, Nefera! I just opened my suitcase, and she must have crawled in their at some point without me noticing because she was lying in there and she wasn't moving. That's all there is to it!"

Her sister was unbelievable. Who was she trying to fool, exactly, with only the two of them in the room? With their father in an entirely different wing of the house, the only one she could possibly be trying to justify Cleo's detainment to was herself.

Nefera shook her head in shock. "You are living in a world full of fantasies, Cleo." The older princess felt bored. The situation she was in was horrible, and her sister wasn't even able to entertain her! The fact that Nefera still had to confess something didn't bother her at all, and it seemed to be forgotten by now. Nefera never held her promises anyway.

"So either you leave my room now, or you give me some compliments. We can also talk about the fact that I am prettier and skinnier than you, if you really don't wanna leave just yet. Azura doesn't feel safe in your orbit, you know. She's scared of you putting her in a situation where she's a second before death again. Hurting innocent pets is really cruel, Cleo. I am still sad about it."

Cleo scowled, and reminded her sister about her side of the bargain. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what _your_ problem is, Nefera. A deal's a deal."

Nefera raised an eyebrow. What was her stupid sister talking about again?!

Fine. Nefera could tell her sister about the fact that her father was pushing her far too much and that she was forced to live up to his expections. Or about the constant feeling of inner emptiness she had. Maybe about the fact that she just did this to herself because she was scared and insecure. She could tell her that it hurt to have no friends. That Nefera was alone and cried herself to sleep at times. That she never went to any of her appointments because she was afraid of failing. That her views on perfection were greatly distorted. That she felt extremely anxious about not being perfect. That she was scared of intimacy. That she never really felt loved in her life.

That was not what the princess eventually did, though. She decided to keep on wearing a mask, to keep pushing her feelings of inferiority and insecurity away. Nefera was better than anybody else! She was a goddess!

"Leave me alone! I don't have any problems!"

Cleo stood from her position on the bed, stomping her foot loudly on the stone floor as she did so "Well then you won't have any 'problems' with me leaving your room right now!" She decided right there and then that she wasn't going to have any kind of interaction with her sister for the foreseeable future. Nefera could wallow in self-pity and the stench of her lies for the rest of summer for all Cleo cared.

Turning with a huff, Cleo opened the door to her sister's room and yelled for the servants to come and fetch her belongings, marching off down the halls back to her own room. Nefera would have to work out how to deal with unlife by herself.


	49. Of Take-Backsies

She had no reason for it, but the next feeling Nefera had towards her sister was anger. She got up from her bed and pulled her sister on the right arm after she yelled for the servants. Nefera kept grabbing Cleo's arm as she pulled her away from the door, not caring if it caused pain or not. "Stop yelling! You are hurting mine and Azura's ears!" Yes, Nefera had just yelled at her sister as well, but that was, of course, allowed.

Cleo gasped in pain as Nefera tugged at her wounded arm. How had her sister even gotten up to stop her so fast? And why?

"You said to leave you alone Nefera, so let go."

"But I didn't tell you to scream like that, you little child!" Nefera yelled, letting go of Cleo's arm. It seemed like Nefera was always, really ALWAYS, searching for fights!

Ugh, the crown princess was still so bored! She hadn't heard any compliments in several hours! It was a wonder that she was even alive after so many hours without approval.

Nefera grabbed Cleo's right arm again, knowing she could control her like that. "Tell me I'm beautiful!"

Cleo winced. "Okay, you're beautiful. You're ex-screamly beautiful, radiant even; just _let go_."

"Yes, I know! I am your boss, queen and ruler and that's why you better stop giving me orders!" Nefera yelled. "I won't let go, because you deserve all of this pain!" She stopped yelling. "Now tell me that I'm flawless."

Cleo struggled against her sister's grip, trying to get away even as she continued to answer, "Completely flawless, absolute walking perfection." Nefera laughed as she let go of her sister's arm. That was exactly what she wanted to hear! Cleo was a much better compliment-giver than the servants, who were also too stupid to prepare their queen appropriate food! She should spend more time with her baby sister and start another compliment round soon. Complimenting Nefera, a born goddess, was something only idiots couldn't enjoy!

Cleo made her escape the instant Nefera released her arm, rubbing her tender shoulder all the way back to her room. At least she had all of her new clothes and shoes back; she would have to cheer herself up for the day by having the servants present each item to her as a reminder of what it was she actually bought before she had them put away. Perhaps she might even wear some of it tomorrow.

It was getting late, and the princess was tired from all of the days failed plans. Some sleep would do her a world of good. She had barely been alone in her room for 5 minutes, however, when she heard the door open again. It was Nefera. This was her chance to inform her sister about her problems, or get the hug she actually really needed, but that was not what she had come in for.

The older princess grabbed the clothes she had just given Cleo to take them away again. She acted like it was totally understandable, saying "I want my clothes back now." Of course, Cleo didn't really have a proof for Nefera's 'disorder' now that the record was deleted, but did Nefera seriously just come to take all of her sisters clothes away again?

Sure she did! Cleo didn't deserve them.

Cleo scoffed at her sister "They're _my_ clothes Nefera, you said they didn't even fit you."

Nefera's voice sounded cold and emotionless. "No, they're not! And it doesn't matter if they fit me or not. I'd rather burn these clothes than give them to you."

Half of the clothes were already in Nefera's hands when she turned to the door to leave the room. She didn't know where exactly it came from, but she suddenly felt horribly angry at her sister. This made her put Cleo down another time. "You are too fat to wear these clothes. Look at you - You would rip them. ALL of them."

The words that came out of Cleo's mouth were loud and shrill from anger. "I would _not_ Nefera! I bought them all in _my_ size. AND I'M NOT FAT, YOU'RE JUST TOO SKINNY BECAUSE YOU STARVE YOURSELF!"

Nefera gasped. She threw the clothes on the floor just to walk back to the spot Cleo was standing to hit her head. "I'm not! Shut up, Daddy might hear you!"

She hit her sister's shoulder. "Argh, what am I saying?! It wouldn't matter anyway, because he doesn't believe you! Because you are adopted and unloved! Everybody hates you! ARGH!"

Cleo held her damaged shoulder. "Okay, you've made your point. Are you ready to leave now, your highness? Because I would really like to get changed into my bedclothes. Ideally without you criticizing me for being 'too wide'."

Nefera laughed. "You aren't wide, you are fat." She pet her sister's head while presenting her a big smirk. "Come on, show me what you've got!"

Why should Cleo change her clothes in front of her sister? Because that was a great way for Nefera to feel good about her OWN body, that's why! …Or bad. It depended on Cleo, really.

Cleo stared at her sister in disbelief. "You're honestly going to stand there, and watch me get changed?" She stood from the bed slowly and rolled her eyes "I'm not going to get any privacy, am I?"

Nefera laughed again. "You're a little child. Look at you, you have nothing to hide!"

She turned to Cleo's desk, seeing a pair of golden earrings, laying there innocently. Nefera took a look at them. The earrings were quite beautiful actually! Nefera would 'borrow' them later, she was sure about it. "Privacy, she wants privacy," Nefera mumbled laughing while touching Cleo's earrings.

Cleo beckoned several servants over to her to help with her one-armed unwrapping, all the while glaring over at her sister, half keeping her in check to make sure that none of her jewelry went 'missing', and half daring Nefera to say anything regarding her weight. It was true, Cleo wasn't as thin as her sister, but she would hardly consider herself 'fat'. She may not have had the utterly warped idea of 'bodily perfection' that her sister did, but she could still never allow herself to become overweight - especially with being the captain of the fearleading squad… or, ex-captain.

Nefera watched her sister with a stern glare. It was true, Cleo wasn't fat. She was skinny. Healthily skinny. When Cleo and the servants were done changing, Nefera was about to, of course, tell Cleo her opinion on her body. The crown princess wasn't a person who found honesty very important, though.

"You are fat," Nefera said emotionless while grabbing Cleo's golden necklace on the desk, thinking of how amazing it would look on her own neck.

"Well that's easy for you to say, Nefera, you're skinny enough to make a skeleton feel 'big boned'."

Nefera laughed at both Cleo's 'compliment'. Finally a sentence she liked to hear! "Yes, I know, I'm beautiful!"

The younger sibling placed her left hand on her now clothed hip, willing her sister to disappear with her silent glare. Preferably without any of her jewellery disappearing along with her. "I have to say though, what you told Daddy about people needing to be 'thicker' was at least _partly_ true. Stick thin models may still be on-trend, but everywhere _else_ has moved on far enough for the mansters to prefer a ghoul whose legs actually look like they can support her weight."

Nefera grabbed both the earrings and necklace from the desk as she made a few steps to her sister to pet her head again - She knew her little sister didn't like that! "You stupid little thing!" She messed up her sister's hair. "That was just an excuse my totally masterful mind made up!" She made a little pause before adding another sentence with laughter. "And Father even believed it! Ha! I'm a natural talent in… in simply everything!"

She turned to the mirror, feeling skinnier and more beautiful than ever before. "Who cares what some stupid guys like? As if I would want to lose my perfect model figure for…for a guy! Pah!" Said, of course, the ghoul who had never been intimate with ANYONE in her unlife before. Nefera, typically.

"Our father is a man too, and he likes skinny women!" She turned back to her sister, putting on a face ready for a fight. "You should maybe lose some weight, fatty, so that Daddy doesn't stop loving you."

"Would it absolutely kill you to _not_ try and make me change who I am, just for one day?"

Cleo was so over living her life the way her family told her to. She had already spent two years at high school trying to be the second Nefera, and honestly all she had accomplished by doing that was to almost lose all of her friends. Even the imaginary Nefera she sometimes thought of in tough situations gave bad advice.

Nefera crossed her arms, but kept the necklace and earrings in her hand. "Is that what I get from trying to help you?!"

She walked towards the door. "I wanted you to become a better person. But it's fine if you don't want that. You will never be better than an ordinary commoner anyway!"

"I don't need your help, Nefera!" Cleo stomped her foot "And I don't need you stealing all of my nicest jewellery, either. Give those back!"

"I won't give them back!" Nefera yelled, leaving Cleo's room in anger.

The crown princess marched into her own room and locked the door, so her sister couldn't get in.

Nefera still remembered the old times when she entered her little sister's room, when she was just a toddler, with one of Cleo's loved and missed dolls in her hand. She then ripped its head off. In front of Cleo's eyes, of course! Without Baby Cleo's tears it wouldn't have been as funny as it actually was!

Ah, yes, Nefera did that often! Mostly when she was bored or frustrated… Which she often was.

"You won't get your jewellery back!" Nefera said loudly, standing right at the locked door, hoping for her sister to stand there as well. "Ah, fine. If you really want it that much, maybe you will get it back later… Broken, though!" An evil laugh escaped her lips. But Nefera was talking to no one. Her little sister had stayed in her own room, slamming the door closed out of frustration as the elder de Nile daughter left. Cleo wouldn't give her sister the satisfaction of yet another yelling match this evening.

She sat in bed, her shoulders tense from agitation, and so demanded a gentle massage from one of the servants before she finally had them shut out the light (leaving her nightlight glowing softly on the side table, of course) and leave her to drift off to sleep.


	50. Of Home Baking

Nefera waited for an answer, but there was none. She carefully unlocked the door to open it just a second later. "Fine! Then I'm gonna keep all of your stuff!" Nefera yelled after seeing that Cleo wasn't there.

The crown princess closed her door again as she didn't get a reaction. Pah! Cleo was too immature and scared to deal with the powerful Nefera! That was how it was!

She put her nighties on, critiquing herself in the mirror all the while. Hmmm… Did Nefera's legs really look like they couldn't support her weight? No, of course they didn't! Cleo had said that because she just wanted Nefera to believe her, and eat, and get fat! Cleo's evil scheme was obvious!

The little talk she had with her younger sister did leave marks, though. Nefera felt much skinnier and happier than usual! She WAS skinny, even Cleo said so! She turned to Azura, who had watched Nefera dressing up. "I'm beautiful, I know! You don't have to tell me again!" She said to the scarab, who was way too tired to even think straight even if she could have answered.

Nefera wondered if she should call some servants for a nice compliment round that could get started again, but decided not to. It was pretty late, and Nefera was… well, hungry. She decided to ignore her feelings of hunger and just go to sleep. Tomorrow would be a better day!

Nefera turned off the lights and went to bed. She heard her stomach growling a few times, but dozed off eventually.

Hours passed and Nefera woke up again. The first thing she felt was hunger, the second one was confusion. Why had she woken up?! It was 3am, far too early in the morning!

Cleo had been sleeping quite soundly, until the pleasant dream she was having started to turn into a nightmare.

She had been revisiting the memory of winning the trophy at Monster Mashionals, when suddenly her father was escorted onto the stage by an entourage of servants and Monster High faculty, snatched the trophy from her and yelled, "What are you doing? You should not be here, this place is not fit for a princess of the de Nile family!" She looked around at the stage, but the stadium was empty, and when she looked back to her father Nefera was standing there too, pointing and laughing at her. Her sister walked over to a huge switch and pulled it, turning off all of the lights.

And that was when she had woken up.

Sitting upright in her bed, Cleo rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It was still dark in the palace - what time was it, anyway? Regardless, she didn't feel like chancing another bad dream just yet. Lifting her nightlight from its place to use as a lantern, she left her room to go and stretch her legs; the cool night air would do her some good.

Nefera turned around in her bed. She wanted to sleep again, but she couldn't! The princess felt unbelievably hungry. She honestly didn't remember the last time when her stomach was completely full.

She closed her eyes again, in another attempt to doze off. Right when she felt a little closer to sleeping, Nefera heard her stomach growling another time. She had to face the fact that she was too hungry to sleep. But what could she do about it? Eat? Pah! Nefera was certainly _not_ going to do _that_ , but suddenly the feeling of hunger became a feeling of pain.

The crown princess got up and turned a little light on in her room. Did she have anything to eat in her room? Ugh, she didn't! What a shame.

Nefera eventually decided to go down to the kitchen and find something to eat there. Only a tiny, _tiny_ thing. Maybe she would allow herself half of an apple. She was as quiet as possible, trying not to make any noise, or alert anyone to the fact that Nefera was eating secretly at night! She felt so weak and embarrassed of herself, but what should she do? Nobody would notice, she just had to be quiet.

As Nefera entered the kitchen, she was sure that no one had seen her, not even a servant! She wanted to grab an apple or something, but there was a plate with cookies laying on the table. Nefera looked at the plate like it was her worst enemy; several seconds passed while the size zero model stood in the kitchen and looked at a plate of home-made cookies.

Oh Ra! They were still warm!

The palace looked incredibly different in the dim light of nighttime as opposed to its usual radiant gold in sunlight hours - different enough for Cleo to not quite recognize the hallway she was currently standing in. Maybe an early morning walk wasn't such a good idea after all. She _would_ find her own way back to her room, though.

One of the statues struck the princess as familiar. If she remembered rightly, there was a secret passageway hidden behind it if one pushed the middle gem of the god's intricate necklace… Aha! Of course, she was right. Now, if only she could remember where this particular tunnel lead to?

While Cleo was walking through the huge palace, her older sister was still spending her time in the kitchen. She stared at the cookies. No, no, no, Nefera couldn't eat a cookie! She couldn't even allow herself a single bite! The last time Nefera had eaten sweets was some years ago. She hadn't allow herself sweets since her career started - grabbing a cookie now would just be weak! But they smelled so nice…

Nefera grabbed one of the cookies to enjoy its fragrance a little more. She wondered if she should risk a bite? No one would see it anyway…

Suddenly the princess gasped. Something she had never seen before appeared in front of her. "Imaginary Nefera here! What you are doing is wrong, you fool! I warn you! Don't dare to eat these! Look at you - You're already fat enough!" The imaginary Nefera quickly disappeared again, having, just as the normal Nefera, no talent in giving others helpful advice.

Fat? Pah! How could the imaginary Nefera dare to call the normal Nefera fat?! She wasn't fat!

…Was she fat?

Nefera didn't know which evil demon was controling her, but she heard the cookie in her hand talking to her in a sweet voice. 'Come on, Nefera, eat me! Eat meeee! You know you want it!' That was too much. Nefera, who was starving, did what her little cookie friend told her.

Oh Ra! The cookie was extremely delicious! The best thing Nefera had eaten since days, maybe even weeks! Ah, how much she had missed this!

The princess wanted to stop, but she couldn't. She grabbed more cookies from the plate, two, five, ten! She was unable to stop herself. All royal table manners were forgotten when Nefera put several cookies together in her mouth, not caring about the fact that she was half-laying on the table, moaning at the pleasurable taste. For some seconds, the crown princess was in heaven. This feeling didn't last long, though. She fell down to Earth really quick again when she realized that someone unwelcome was standing in the kitchen, watching her having a 'snack attack'.

It was Cleo.


	51. Of Midnight Snacks

Cleo felt as though she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because she was sure that the last passage was supposed to have taken her not too far from her room, but this looked like… the kitchen? And something - or someone - was certainly in here with her.

Lifting up her nightlight-lantern to cast more light on the room, Cleo could make out the shape of her sister. What was Nefera doing in the kitchen? She couldn't be… sneaking food, could she?

She stepped towards her oldger sister, asking mockingly "Hungry?"

Nefera hadn't seen Cleo before she heard her voice. She immediately stopped eating and turned her head to her sister. Nefera gasped louder than ever before when she realized what she was doing and that Cleo was seriously seeing her. Suddenly the older princess felt extremely warm, she felt like her heart wasn't beating anymore. She was unable to move away from the table or to answer her sister. The room began to spin, Nefera tried to keep herself from fainting.

"Oh my Ra, Nefera!" Cleo said, panicked, as her sister began to look unsteady on her feet. Stepping forward to set her light on the kitchen counter, she offered Nefera her good arm to help to give her sister some support and keep her upright - but it was too late. Nefera fainted and fell down backwards on the hard kitchen floor. Cleo had still tried to keep her from falling, but without success. A noise was heard when Nefera's back and head hit the ground. No one was there to help!

Cleo ran to the door of the kitchen and called for someone to help, but the palace was too large for their father to have hear from his private rooms, and all of the servants had returned to their own small homes on the de Nile property. Returning to her sister, Cleo knelt by her side to briefly check on Nefera's condition before frantically open the various kitchen cupboards. Surely they must have some aromatic spice handy that could be used as a substitute for smelling salts to wake her.

Nefera stayed unconscious for a while. She suddenly opened her eyes a tiny bit and made a "Mmmm?" noise, before closing them again. She wasn't quite awake yet, but the hard fall hadn't left an injury on her flawless body. Hearing her sister stirring, Cleo abandoned her unsuccessful quest to return to Nefera's side, bringing a damp cloth with her to hopefully rouse her from her semi-conscious state. Gently dabbing the cool material to the older princess' forehead, the younger sister watched carefully for any signs that the other may be recovering.

After realizing that there was a cool cloth on her forehead, Nefera opened her eyes. She immediately took the cloth away from her. Who did Cleo think she was?! A doctor?! Pah! She was not! She should feel horrible for making Nefera faint! Where was her apology?!

"I could have died," Nefera said coldly, while looking Cleo dead in the eyes.

Cleo brushed off her sister's comment - it was more or less Nefera's catchphrase by now. Lifting the nightlight from the counter top, she brought it down with her to sit on the floor with her sister.

"This is the second time you've fainted this week… Are you okay?"

What a stupid question! Of course Nefera was not okay!

"What a stupid question! Of course I'm not okay!" She sighed deeply. "It's all your fault! You are stressing me out! You are always stalking me, no matter where I am! Did you plan that?! Are you trying to get me killed?! Argh, I can't take this terrible stress any longer!" She closed her eyes, placed a hand on her forehead and laid her head on the ground again, acting like she was about to die.

A stranger would think that Nefera had a terrible illness that could take her life away in no time. But that was not how it was. She was just overreacting… again. The fact that she had just secretly eaten a whole plate of cookies wasn't mentioned, though. Typically.

"I'm not _stalking_ you, I'm just… trying to help." Cleo hugged her nighlight to her, like it would somehow help to stop her sister's words from hurting. But Nefera wasn't done yet. The fact that her words were hurting Cleo wasn't anything the older sister seemed to care about, either. She sat up again and took the cloth she had placed on the ground just to throw it right into Cleo's face.

Nefera started yelling. "Where is your apology for making me faint?! You should be glad I'm still alive!" She suddenly gasped. "Oh my Ra!" realizing that she was still sitting on the ground, she looked around in panic. Was she injured?! Hopefully not! It seemed like the gods had protected their present to the world - Nefera de Nile - again. Good! Because a tiny injury would be enough for Nefera to make the servants take her to the hospital. Ahhh, all the attention she would get, though! Just like a dream!

Cleo stood from her spot on the floor, holding the light over her sister. She wasn't quite sure what Nefera was looking for, but she would need light for it whatever it was. "I'm… sorry… for scaring you." Cleo half-mumbled. As a de Nile, the feeling of an apology didn't really sit right on her tongue, even if it was maybe deserved this time.

"If you're feeling better, I'm going to go back to bed… You might want to do the same, while there are still a few cookies left on the plate." Ah, now that was much much better. Putting some kind of spin on the conversation to direct attention back at other people's problems always took the edge off having to apologize.

Nefera made a loud noise of anger. "Aaaaaargh!" She got up from the ground, angry at the fact that her stupid sister had just let her sit there like that. "You are so worthless!" Nefera yelled, aggressively pushing Cleo away. If there were stairs behind her, the younger princess would have probably fallen down. AGAIN.

The fact that Cleo had seen her eating these cookies made Nefera feel terrible. She felt like a loser. Why did she eat these?! Oh, she was so weak…

There needed to be a way for Nefera to punish herself somehow! But first Cleo needed to be punished. She deserved it even more!

Cleo stepped back, stopping her sister from pushing further. "Will you _stop_ that, Nefera? If it's such a big deal to you, then just tell Daddy I ate them all. That's what you do with everything else, right?" she snapped. It was true; whether she was actually present or not, Nefera's problems were always Cleo's fault.

"Shut your mouth! I didn't eat anything! I'm on a diet!" With these words she stormed off, up to her room.

Cleo watched her sister storm out of the kitchen, bemused by her blatant lie about not having eaten anything. Apparently, 'denile' wasn't just her surname.

With no reason to stay in the kitchen, Cleo hugged her nightlight to her and made her way back to her own room - using the main hallways, this time; no more useless detours.


	52. Of Locked Doors

ARGH!

Nefera arrived in her huge room. Cleo had to pay for what she did! The princess took a pillow and threw it to the ground in anger. With that, she woke up her scarab beetle who had been sleeping peacefully.

Suddenly the de Nile princess had an idea!

When Cleo arrived in her room just some minutes later, she couldn't open the door - it was locked from the inside. Suddenly, the princess heard a voice coming from the inside her quarters. A voice she knew far too well. The exact same voice that used to tell her how ordinary, stupid and worthless she was, ever since early childhood; the owner of this voice had always been _EVIL_.

"Prepare yourself for a sleepless night, little baby brat!"

Yes, yes! Nefera had locked herself in Baby Cleo's room. What the younger princess didn't know, though, was that any other rooms with beds or couches in them were locked as well. It was really lucky for Nefera that she had found an amulet she could use - the one that could lock certain rooms for certain people! Even if there were no doors in certain palace rooms, it would be impossible for the cursed person (i.e. Cleo) to enter them.

Ahhhh~ Sweet, sweet revenge!

Cleo clenched her fists tightly and turned on her heel. If Nefera was going to take command of her room, then she would just have Nefera's instead.

Locked.

Okay then, maybe the plush couch in the seating room would do for tonight.

Locked again.

The chaise lounge on the balcony? That was locked too.

Cleo endeavored to find a room that her sister couldn't possibly have shut her out of. The oversized throne in the foyer was perfectly accessible - no real doors, as such, just heavily curtained archways - but for some reason, even the drapes seemed to deny Cleo entrance to the room!

Returning to the entryway to her own room, she tucked the lantern into her sling-baring arm and pounded on the door. "Whatever you did, undo it, now! You've had your fun, Nefera, now let me in!"

Nefera laughed. Loudly. Evilly. Nefera-like, for lack of better words. She wanted to say something, but couldn't hold herself back from simply laughing at her sister.

"Hmm. If you give me the password, I'll open the door and let you sleep in here. If not-" Cleo heard a noise. It was something in her room that had fallen to the ground. Something precious. "Oops." Another laugh was heard.

Was her sister honestly playing something so immature as the 'guess the password' game? It was hard to believe she was the older sibling sometimes. "But I don't _know_ the password" Cleo complained, slouching against the door just as the crash sounded from inside the room, causing her to stand bolt upright again. She pressed an ear against the door to try and better hear what was going on inside "What was that?"

"That? Oh, nothing important. Just your earring collection," Nefera said laughing. "Just try to think of the password and I'll let you in!" The older princess left the information that there was no password at all completely out of her answer. Maybe Cleo would try some compliments? Even if not it would be funny!

Cleo made a noise of agitation before replying, "Nefera… is perfection? Nefera is flawless, Nefera is… I don't know, just let me in!"

Nefera sighed. "Oh Cleo. That's not the password." Her voice sounded angry. "Now stop yelling at me before I burn all of your clothes!"  
Nefera, Nefera, Nefera… A deadly impulsive monster who talked before actually thinking about her words sometimes.

"Yes, I AM perfection, but that doesn't mean that that's automatically the password, duh." She made the annoying voice she always used to anger Cleo with. "Aww, is little Baby Cleo so stupid?" She laughed. Ah! Finally an amusing situation that made her forget about all the cookies she had eaten.

"It's this password game that's stupid!"

Cleo stomped her foot and turned to lean with her back against the door. "I'm tired and I just want to go to bed, Nefera. Can you just let me in?"

Nefera laughed at Cleo's answer. "Just because you're too much of an idiot to think of a password?"

She came closer to the door. "Hmm, if you are asking me that nicely, then I really have to say- No." She laughed again. Nefera's jokes were the funniest, really! She took place on Cleo's bed and looked through her personal stuff. "Interesting things you have here..." she said smirking.

The room got silent until Nefera made another joke. "Maybe you should just sleep on the ground? Right where you belong - in the dirt." She laughed again.

Cleo slid down the door to the floor, but she had no intentions of sleeping there and allowing her sister that satisfaction. She hoped that by staying quiet, she could force Nefera into opening the door out of boredom, since she certainly wasn't going to do it out of sympathy.

"Oh, Cleoooooo," Nefera said. "You probably have no problem with me looking through your personal stuff, do you? I don't believe there's anything you have to hide!" She laughed again and continued what she had started. Cleo's stuff wasn't really that entertaining, though. Why didn't Cleo have any interesting stuff in her room?! There was no one talking to Nefera or giving her compliments either! What a hellish situation! The feeling of boredom quickly overcame the princess. She couldn't be alone for so long, only with herself. "Cleo? Cleo?!" There was no response!

Somehow managing to stop herself from screaming at Nefera for the pure mention of going through her personal effects, Cleo sat impatiently outside the room, hoping that she would be let in soon. She could hear how irritated her sister was becoming with her lack of response, and fidgeted in the anticipation at having the door opened for her. Sitting still and staying quiet was hard work.

"CLEO!" A window nearby broke. It was not hard to tell that Nefera was angry. And when Nefera was angry, it was not good for ANYTHING or ANYONE to be near her. Cleo knew that from experience. Many monsters did, actually…

"IF YOU DON'T ANSWER, I'M GONNA… I'M GONNA DESTROY ALL OF YOUR STUFF!" A loud noise was heard from outside the room. Things that were supposed to be on Cleo's desk were laying on the ground now. Good job, Nefera…

She couldn't hold back from answering any longer. Scrambling up from her spot on the floor, Cleo knocked loudly for her sister to hear "Let me in then, and we'll talk."

Nefera laughed like a psycho killer. "Talk? HAHAHAHA! I don't want to talk!" More things were falling down to the ground. Nefera had kinda lost herself in it. This whole night was just crazy.

"Then what do you want? Why are you doing this to me, when I haven't done anything to you?"

Silence. Most people would have felt bad for Cleo, but not her sister Nefera. Why should she care? It was what Cleo deserved for… for being born!

Nefera remembered the three years of actual childhood she had. What she remembered after it was just pain! 'Go away, Nefera!', 'Don't come near your sister, Nefera!', 'Don't you pull the Baby's hair again!', 'Don't you see I'm busy?!', 'I can't play with you now, Nefera', 'Go to the nurses, Nefera', 'Stop screaming, the baby is here!', 'Argh, just leave!', 'Stop crying!', 'Share your toys with your little sister!', 'You're too old for that!', 'Learn how to become Queen, because nobody else will!'

Nefera sat down in front of the door and practically hissed, "You will not sleep in this room".

Cleo curled up into herself, defeated. Her sister wasn't going to undo whatever curse she had put in place, and Cleo wasn't getting to sleep anywhere comfortable tonight, it was as simple as that.

She sat with her back to the door, cradling her nightlight with her knees pulled in close. Here would do as well as anywhere.


	53. Of Floor-Length Mirrors

Nefera pressed her ear against the door, waiting for an answer; there was none! Fine.

She got up and walked to Cleo's bed. She tried to sit, but there was something hissing at her. It was Hissette! She wanted to sleep in Cleo's room as well and was trying to protect the bed. Pah! As Nefera came closer, Hissette reared up and hissed louder. Nefera crossed her arms. "Hissette! Stop hissing! It's me, Nefera!" But Hissette continued to hiss at the enemy.

"Your stupid pet snake is not raised at all!" Nefera yelled to her sister. Hissette got louder. That was enough! Nefera began to use her ability - She charmed Hissette. The snake suddenly stopped hissing and laid her head down. She didn't seem to have a problem with Nefera sleeping in Cleo's bed anymore. Ahhh~ Nefera was a flawless snake charmer! Nefera laid down in Cleo's bed. It was quite comfortable, actually. But the gods knew that it would never be the bed of a Queen! The only Queen, of course, was the wonderous Nefera de Nile!

The feeling of superiority made Nefera quickly fall asleep.

As much as Cleo appreciated Hissette's small attempt at rebellion, she knew it couldn't last - they rarely did in this household, it seemed. So she stayed where she was, hoping once again that things would work out better in the morning, because the night held no such luck. The floor was cold and uncomfortable and she was sure more than once that she saw a spider scuttling across the stone hallway. Cleo _hated_ spiders.

Every time her pure tiredness caused the princess to drift into half-sleep, some movement in the dim light would catch her attention and force her awake, or she would move herself in a way that didn't agree with her injured shoulder. By the time drowsiness fully overcame her, the sun had already began to filter in through the palace windows.

Nefera was woken up by something crawling over her body. She tried to ignore it, not wanting to open her eyes. Suddenlythe princess felt a snakey tongue in her ear. Argh! Gross! Nefera sat up, pushed Hissette away and turned around in bed. She would NOT cuddle with a snake! It was way too early for her to be awake anyway!

Azura, who had somehow managed to get out of Nefera's bedroom, flew through the huge palace to find her owner. It might seem unbelievable, but the little scarab really had a bond to the evil princess.

As Azura reached the hallway Cleo was in, she felt rather confused. Azura didn't know that monsters - especially ROYAL monsters - used to sleep on the ground. At least, she had never seen Nefera sleep on the ground before, so the insect tried to figure out what had happened. The little bug landed on Cleo's cheek.

Cleo batted at whatever it was causing the tickling sensation on her face, slapping herself in the process and causing herself yet another unwelcome awakening, only to find that it was Azura, who was now fluttering her tiny wings frantically in front of the princess' face. She decided at that moment that Azura obviously didn't want her to sleep any more than her sister did, and the two were therefore as evil as each other.

She rubbed her tired eyes and stretched her aching limbs, standing back up from the floor and knocking to gain her sister's attention. "Nefera? Are you awake?" she cast a sideways glare at Azura, probably undeservingly, but as irritated as she was from her terrible, sleepless night she didn't much care. "Your bug wants you."

The bedroom was quiet for a second, until a laugh was heard. Nefera got up and walked to the door that was still locked. "Did you sleep on the ground?" There was probably no answer that would NOT make Nefera burst out into laughter.

"If you can call it that." she crossed her arms, leaning against the door, still waiting for it to be opened. "Well?"

Nefera laughed, not that Cleo was expecting anything different. "How was your night?" Nefera asked with a smirk on her face as she walked to the next mirror, not willing to open the door just yet.

"Terror-ible. I suppose yours was comfortable. Sleep well?" Cleo asked sarcastically. "Azura and I are still waiting outside, you know. By all means, though, take your time. I know you will anyway."

Nefera laughed again. "Yes, I did sleep well, thank you." She grabbed Cleo's hair brush and brushed her long, teal hair. It was really a shame that there was no servant in the room with her! What bad service!

Before going anywhere, Nefera, of course, needed to wear some fancy make-up! Since her make-up wasn't in the room with her, she had to use something else. Or someone else's.

"I will use your make-up, if you don't mind," Nefera said, smirking, as she reached out for Cleo's favorite eyeliner.

"Oh, by all means." Cleo said, flailing her arm around dramatically for no-one to see "Go ahead, why not try some of my jewellery to go with it? Complete the look?"

"Oh sure! You probably don't mind me borrowing one of your dresses either," Nefera said, smirking. She made her way to Cleo's closet.

Nefera was one of those people who _always_ had to look in the mirror when they walked by. That was what she did when she walked to the closet, but then something happened that made her unable to actually pick a dress.

The mirror was big and had showed Nefera's whole body, not only her face. She was just going to look at her reflection for a second, but immediately had to make a double-take in the tall, golden mirror. Had she… Had she gained weight? Oh Ra! She did! It was obvious!

…No, it was not. Only for Nefera, who suddenly remembered the fact that she had eaten a whole plate of cookies last night. The princess removed her thin nighties to look at herself closer. It was really true! Nefera was not skinny anymore!

She fell to her knees and covered her eyes with her hands, quietly starting to shed tears. It was pure self-hate the princess felt at that moment. Her real self, which was always hidden, always seemed to come out at the stupidest of moments.

That's what happens if you didn't learn how to deal with your emotions in the right way.


	54. Of Gaining Weight

Cleo waited a while for the silence to dissipate, but her sister's voice didn't come back through the closed door. After a good while of standing outside _without_ the continuation of her sister's snide comments, Cleo knocked again. "Nefera? You didn't get lost in the wardrobe, did you?"

Nefera looked up and turned to the mirror again. How could she have been so stupid? Eating cookies was one thing, putting on eyeliner just to cry it off a minute later was even worse!

She removed her now destroyed make-up and put on her nightie again. She needed to weigh herself - but the scale that was in her room!

The princess unlocked and opened the door and stormed off without even looking at Cleo or Azura. She marched to her room. Azura was a smart little scarab, so she was fast enough to fly after Nefera to get in her room before the door was slammed closed on her and locked.

Cleo was about to take a triumphant step into her now open bedroom, but stepped instead face-first into an invisible wall; some force was still keeping her out. Turning on her heel with a frustrated growl, she stomped her way towards her sister's room, once again pounding on the door for attention.

So this was how her day was going to go.

"Nefera, give me whatever amulet you used, now!"

But Nefera was not in the mood for helping people now! Well, she never was actually.

What Cleo did not know was that Nefera's sadness had turned to anger again, just as it so often did. She was having a bad, _bad_ temper tantrum.

"ARGH! GO AWAY!" She yelled violently while searching for her scale. Her voice sounded like she was just about to go out of the room and hit Cleo in the face.

Azura was scared. Maybe staying with Cleo would have been a better thing to do than keeping herself locked in a room with Nefera, even if she was her owner.

Cleo stamped her foot indignantly. What did Nefera think she was playing at? "No! No, I won't go away until you undo whatever curse you put on me!"

Cleo got a shock as the door opened loudly and forcefully. Suddenly, there was an aggressively yelling woman with a red angry face, swollen eyes and ruined facial make-up in front of her. "YOU BETTER GO AWAY BEFORE I BREAK ANOTHER OF YOUR BONES!" Her voice sounded crazy and out of control. The door was slammed shut again before Cleo could answer.

Now, where was that stupid scale? Maybe Nefera had put it under the bed? Azura would have to go and check. The last thing a future queen like Nefera would do was to crawl around on a dusty ground.

The younger princess stood facing Nefera's closed door for a short while, in shock from her sister's display of fury. She was, quite frankly, terrified of what her sister might actually be willing to do in these circumstances; however, she was also very resolute in the fact that she needed to get rid of this curse.

So, true to her word, she stayed put - quietly, for a time, to allow her sister to 'cool down' - and eventually knocked again.

In the meantime, Azura, a weak, poor and innocent scarab beetle, had been forced to crawl under the bed and look for the scale. It really was there! And so Azura, still a weak, poor and innocent scarab beetle, had been made to push the heavy scale out from under the bed. Only then did Nefera finally do something herself. She _used the scale_. After that? A mental breakdown.

There the future queen was laying on the dusty ground, crying. Oh Ra… She really _had_ gained weight.


	55. Of Being Un-Cursed

Receiving no response, good or bad, Cleo knocked louder - and continuously, this time. She figured Nefera would be more likely to answer that way.

"GO AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" The tone of the response was sad, angry and totally psychotic all at once. Azura began to feel fearful of her owner again and crawled away from her hand. She knew that Nefera's… ugh… 'phases' could end violently. Everyone probably knew that, though. Especially Cleo.

"I'LL GO AWAY WHEN I CAN 'GO AWAY' INTO MY OWN ROOM!" Cleo yelled back. She was ready to throw a tantrum of her own, and in no mood for her sister - who had enjoyed a far better night that she - to be her usually selfish self.

No answer, only sobs, and the quiet scratching sound of Azura desperately trying to leave the room. Nefera felt how her tears were running down her cheeks, in the direction of her ears, since she was still lying on her back.

Nefera then made, just for dramatic reasons, a crying noise that was louder than the others. She eventually got Azura's attention. The bug made her way to her owner's hand again. Why was Nefera crying? Was she sad? And why was Cleo not leaving her alone? So many questions a little bug like Azura couldn't answer.

Cleo pressed her forehead against the door. She had calmed down a little now, but that wasn't to say that she couldn't revert back into a full-fledged diva fit - just for the show of it - should the noise of their previous yelling match have gained any attention. "Nefera…" she sighed, not even sure if it was worth the attempts any more "Are you… okay?"

Nefera got rid of the tears on her face. She sat up and pet her bug Azura, who was happy (and pretty surprised!) to get some show of affection from her usually cold-hearted owner. Nefera sighed. "Cleo. Why can't you just leave me alone? You've always been annoying me since… since forever! I am not your babysitter! Go away!"

"Good, because I don't _need_ a baby sitter. What I _need_ is a decent older sister who won't curse me out of every room in the house!" Cleo stopped herself from saying anything else that might upset her sister. She didn't need to put herself any further onto Nefera's bad side than she already was - not that Nefera _had_ a 'bad side', as her sister might say, but then again Cleo had to agree with that; it wasn't just the one side.

"Can you just undo it? That's all I want - that's all I've wanted since last night! And then I'll go, it's as simple as that."

Nefera sat there for a minute and stared into space, still petting her pet's tiny wings. What did she want most right now? Fame? Attention? Applause? Approval? Or maybe just a person to talk to? Someone who would hug her and free her from the terrible mess in her head? But maybe that was not it. Maybe Nefera's body just had the urge to lose lunch again?

Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense!

The princess got up, grabbed the amulet she had used for the curse and opened the door of her room. "There you have it," she mumbled in a rather annoyed tone as she gave her sister the amulet. Cleo looked at the object in her hands, at a loss for how to use it… but she wasn't going to let Nefera know that, of course. She would just have to figure it out - Cleo was a de Nile, after all. So what if almost every amulet she had attempted to use in the past had backfired on her?

She rotated the amulet slowly, inspecting it. There must be an inscription somewhere, with some kind of instructions…

Nefera continued standing in front of Cleo. Her eyes looked dead as she stared at her sister. She looked down at her legs, comparing them to the size of her sister's legs. Hopefully nobody would notice that Nefera had gained weight… One comment about it and she would do everything, healthy or not, to undo her mistake.

…Mistake? Nefera had made a mistake? She… She really had! Oh Ra, without her false, arrogant facade Nefera was nothing. She was a… a nobody!

Cleo decided that the hieroglyphs on the amulet _seemed_ simple enough to follow. All that she needed to do was twist _this_ section, and… the door to Nefera's room swung shut behind the two ghouls. Now they were both locked out! Maybe that _wasn't_ right after all…

Nefera turned around in shock. "CLEO! What did you do?! Are you too stupid to control the amulet?! Argh! You little, adopted accident!"

Turning feelings of sadness and depression into rage was that simple for Nefera, yes. At least she felt better about herself again for the moment.

Cleo read back over the inscription. "Oh, it was supposed to be _anti_ -clockwise. Oops." No doubt Nefera would think she had done it on purpose.

"You are just simply **dumb**!" Nefera yelled. She aggressively grabbed the amulet out of Cleo's hands to undo the curse.

She gave Cleo the amulet back and walked into her room again to lock the door. Nefera had important things to do now; the princess needed to figure out how to lose that weight again! She was on a strict, strict diet from now on!


	56. Of Precious Things

Whilst Nefera worked on her dieting regime, Cleo decided that it was time to catch up on some much needed sleep. Armed with her - now entirely useless - nightlight and the deactivated amulet, she returned to her own room and set the two objects down on the side table.

Hissette was curled up on the pillow, still entirely docile from her sister's charming, having not bothered to move from the bed to her own basking rock. Not that it mattered much to Cleo - she would be happy to share her sleeping space with Hissette at the best of times, and right now she was too exhausted to argue even if she didn't want her there.

In the meantime, Nefera was starting her research. It was highly important to find out the best way to lose as much weight as possible, and as quick as possible. She had read about many different diets, but eventually decided to just continue with her current method of eating and… 'getting rid of it' later on. She would also try not to eat as much, but just enough that her father - or bratty sister - should notice anything. Now she would be strict on herself! Eating cookies was forbidden. Eating anything that had more than a certain amount of calories was forbidden!

The princess quickly pushed the scale back under the bed and looked in the mirror one last time before leaving for the bathroom. Nefera needed some time for herself. She would make herself ready for breakfast by applying her favorite makeup and only dress up in the most beautiful designer dresses!

Before leaving, she quicky opened her closet. What should she wear today? Nefera had actually wanted to go for a tight dress, but feared that someone might comment on her figure in a negative way. The fact that she had only gained a tiny amount of weight, still weighed below average and that the weight gain wasn't even visible was completely ignored by the princess when she grabbed a knee-long, loose summer dress and left the room. She would not wear tight clothes anymore. Not while being that fat!

Cleo's catch-up sleep was cut short by the persistent knocking of a servant who had come to announce that breakfast was ready, and several others that had followed to make sure the injured princess had assistance in changing her clothes and getting ready for the meal.

As annoying as it was to have been woken up _again_ , the prospect of food was also very tempting, so Cleo followed along with the usual morning routine. Her makeup would hide how tired she was for now, and there was still an entire day that could easily be slept through after making this one public appearance.

Nefera made herself ready as well. When she was dressed, had make-up on and was actually ready, she turned to the big mirror in her bathroom. Could she go see her family like that? She totally could! Nefera left the bathroom and made her way to the dining hall. It was huge, golden, ancient and totally de Nile-like.

When Nefera came in, she saw that both her father and sister were already sitting on their places. Ramses wore a disapproving face which made Nefera immediately look at the clock. Oh… She had spent quite some time in bath.

Well perfection needed its time, didn't it?

Nefera smiled in a rather shy way, hoping that she hadn't made her family wait _too_ long…

"Good morning," she said as she sat down, hoping that no one saw her little weight gain and the extreme insecurity she hid behind her smile.

Cleo mumbled a reply, focusing her attention more on her plate than on her sister. She was secretly relieved, though, to have had Nefera finally make her way to the table with them. Since 'confessing' to her father that she had 'lied' about Nefera, spending time with Ramses now seemed… awkward… as though he didn't really want to have to socialize with her. Needless to say, Nefera hadn't exactly missed any riveting conversations while she was taking her sweet time in getting ready.

"Good morning," Ramses answered in an angry tone. "Did Ms. Nefera de Nile finally make it to the table now!?"

Nefera giggled nervously, trying to keep her face from getting red. "Yes, I, uhm, needed to… look pretty for… you," she stammered, still somehow trying to suck up to her father.

Ramses raised an eyebrow. "Well then maybe you should get up earlier to 'look pretty for me'."

He was so unbelievably hard to please.

"Haha, okay, daddy," Nefera answered not less nervous than before as she felt the heat of her face.

Ugh! Why was she suddenly so insecure?! Nefera felt like someone, maybe even a lowly servant, would say 'Nefera! Look how fat you are!' in just a second. Everyone would laugh and she would just… ugh!

The room descended into silence, as if no one in the room quite knew what to say - or maybe they just didn't want to have to talk to each other. The family may as well have all taken their breakfast in their own rooms, they would have gotten the same amount of interaction out of it.

It was the head of the household who eventually broke the silence. "I have something important to announce."

Nefera and Cleo both looked up from their plates. Cleo's plate was almost empty, Nefera's still more than half full. She didn't plan on eating all of it anyway.

"My daughters. I have gotten an important call this morning. My talent for business deals is needed somewhere else. Egypt. I will leave you two alone for at least a week. I am certain that you will get along without me, my princesses, since you are two very mature women."

Nefera? _Mature?_

"I will leave you this evening, but before I go, there's something I want you to have. Something precious."

He turned to one of his servants. The Anubis-headed guard took out a little golden box and gave it to his ruler.

Ramses grabbed the box and opened it while talking. "This, my daughters, is an ancient egyptian necklace. It is an important artifact, but I cannot take it with me. There must be someone who can take care of the necklace as long as I am not here."

The older princess smirked. The necklace was stunning and she knew what was coming now.

"Nefera. Will you take care of the necklace as long as I am gone?"

"Of course I will, father!"

"It is important that you do not wear it anywhere. The necklace must be kept in a safe place."

Nefera wasn't even listening to her father anymore. Without asking, she greedily snatched the necklace out of the box. She held it before her neck, smirking at the imagination of wearing it to a gala.

"Did you understand that?"

"Huh? What? Uhm, I mean… Of course I did, father! I will take care of your necklace, don't worry."

Come to mummy, you beautiful, expensive artifact! It was obvious that the necklace would look brilliant with the new earrings Nefera had secretly bought with her father's money. She would wear it in public to enjoy all the jealous glances of the commoners!

Ramses turned to his younger daughter. "Can I be certain that you will keep an eye on the necklace as well, Cleo? Harming, or even worse, LOSING this artifact would be a tragedy! It must be in good hands."

Nefera answered before Cleo could. "It IS in good hands, daddy! In my hands, that is!" She laughed evilly, not realizing that both Cleo and Ramses looked at her in a strange way.

Cleo turned back to her father, still giving her sister a sideways glance that sent a message somewhere between ' _put that back we both know daddy can't really trust you_ ' and _'it would look way better on me anyway_ '.

"You don't have a thing to worry about, Daddy. Nefera and I will make sure this necklace is in just as beautifully stunning, and safe, condition when you get home." she reassured him, smiling sweetly in the hope that this show of trust meant that the events of the previous day or so weren't that much of a big deal. "Have fun on your trip."

Ramses answered, his voice sounding as dark as always. "Good. Just to tell you again; I expect you ghouls not to wear the necklace at all. Not even here in the palace. It is already sold, and not being able to present this amulet to its buyer later would bring a curse over all of us."

Nefera turned to her father in shock. "Buyer?! You have already sold the necklace, father?!"

He turned to Nefera, realizing that his daughter had gained control over her senses again. "Yes, Nefera, of course I have." His voice suddenly sounded angry. "What did you think?! That the necklace is a gift for you?!"

"Ah…no. Of course not. I would never expect such a thing, daddy! It is just sad for me to… you know… see that you are already giving this," she looked at the necklace in her hands, acting like she had fallen in love with it, "truly beautiful thingy away."

It was unbelievable that Ramses had the audacity to give **Nefera's** necklace away! Didn't he love her?!

Ramses didn't seem to feel calmer after hearing Nefera's opinion. "This truly beautiful thingy," he growled through gritted teeth, "IS AN UNBELIEVABLY PRECIOUS ANCIENT ARTEFACT!"

The only thing Cleo needed now was popcorn to enjoy the oh so entertaining conversation between her family members. Watching Ramses and Nefera discussing was better than the best drama movie. It never failed to make Cleo feel amused.

"Oh, don't worry, Daddy, we'll both be sure to remember how important this necklace - and the deal you have regarding it - is to you." Cleo chimed in "We'll keep it perfectly safe, won't we, Nefera?"

She turned to her older sister for a response, using it as an opportunity to eye up the glittering jewels of the wonderfully historical piece. She may have to try it on for herself once their father left on his business trip - just the once, of course.

Nefera wanted to let their father see what an amazing older sister she was, but couldn't hold herself back from making Cleo look bad.

"No, I will keep it perfectly safe," she answered in an arrogant tone, speaking out the 'I' extra loudly. "Ra knows you can't even take care of your homework." She laughed darkly.

Ramses rolled his eyes. He suddenly remembered something else that needed to be cleared up.

"Nefera, Cleo, I feel forced to inform you about the fact that an important and powerful amulet in my collection is missing."

Nefera raised an eyebrow, wondering why she should care about other people's problems. Was she the only one in the family who was able to take good care of things? Probably. The gods should bless her!

Ramses continued. "Its use is highly dangerous and it should only be used in emergencies. The amulet is able to close certain doors or rooms for certain people. It is small, round and golden. If you see it, please give it to a servant, so I will be able to add it to my collection again later, without being bothered from work."

Oh, THAT amulet. Hmmm. The fact that it was Nefera who always used to sneek into her father's private rooms to 'borrow' his ancient amulets for her own benefits was not important now. What WAS important, though, was that Cleo had taken the amulet with her after getting rid of its curse.

Ramses spoke up again. "The amulet needs to be found as quick as possible! Once in the wrong hands and it could bring complete evil over someone!"

Evil? Hm, maybe Nefera should keep the amulet to herself to place a terrible curse on- no, never mind.

Again, she spoke up before thinking.

"Father! I think the amulet is in Cleo's room! I saw her using it last night." After these words, Nefera turned to Cleo, presenting her the mix of a fake smile and an evil smirk.

Cleo opened her mouth in a silent gasp. The amulet was in her room, yes, she couldn't deny that fact, but she couldn't exactly accuse Nefera of being the one to use it either, not after yesterday. "You're mistaken, Nefera. It's in my room, but I haven't _used_ the amulet," she turned to her father "you see, I couldn't sleep last night, so I went for a bit of a walk through the house, and I _found_ it. And since I knew you wouldn't want something so valuable just lying around, I took it to my room for safekeeping." She gave him a wide smile.

This time, the luck was on Cleo's side. "Ah! Very good. I would like you to give me the amulet after breakfast, yes? It is needed in my collection."

Nefera gasped. "F-Father! I saw Cleo using the amulet, really! I do not know what she wanted to achieve by using it, but-"

"Are you already done with your breakfast, Nefera? You have not eaten a lot."

"Uh… I… Yes. I'm done."

"Good. If everyone is done now, the servants will clean the table and Cleo and I can work on our school, and business, work."

"But Father!"

"What is it, Nefera?"

Nefera suddenly felt unbelievably sad and disappointed. "Oh, it's nothing…" She would go to her bathroom, throw up and just lay in bed and cry the whole day long!

Ramses rolled his eyes. "Why did you waste my time then?"

"I'm sorry, father," Nefera said, facing the ground.

Cleos grin turned unashamedly smug as her sister's attempts at getting her into any more troubled fell flat.

Escorted by several of the family's servants, Cleo returned to her room, collected the amulet, and had her numerous text books carried to Ramses' study. Perhaps there was time to work on her relationship with her father before he left.


	57. Of The Interventions of Cobras

Ramses was preoccupied by his important documents. Nefera had taken the precious amulet to her room and he had the strange feeling that it was not safe there…

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door to his office. The former pharaoh really hoped that that was not his oldest daughter, needing to tell him that the necklace was already broken. He was fortunate enough to find that it was instead the younger of the two princesses. "I've brought the lost amulet for you, Daddy. Can I sit in here with you for a while before you have to leave?"

Most parents would have been happy about their teenage child showing affection like that, but not Ramses. He felt detered from work and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said while grabbing the amulet. "I will leave later in the day and expect you to know that your sister Nefera has the full responsibility for you, the palace and the servants. She will be your minder and I do not want you to verbally attack her again. Are we clear? Your sister will prepare for future modelling appointments and I do not want you to bother her." He mumbled something else through gritted teeth. "Just like you are bothering me now."

Apparently, Cleo needed a babysitter for the time her father wouldn't be around and was a bother for the whole family. Apparently, coming here had been a mistake, and there was nothing she could do to be seen in a good light by her father's eyes. Great choice of words, Ramses. Great choice of words. "Yes, daddy." she mumbled, looking away from him "I can go back to studying in my own room for now, if you prefer. I don't want to be… in the way."

Ramses rolled his eyes and groaned. "Why did you come here then?" He answered in the most arrogant tone possible.

But suddenly the former Pharaoh remembered an important thing: his daughters' appointments! Not for some fancy modelling agency, no, for actual therapy. Cleo had a broken bone and Nefera… Well, she had some other problems.

"Oh, Cleo. Before you go, there is something important you need to know. You have a therapy appointment to let your, ah, shoulder heal," Ramses stated, giving the impression like Cleo's injury was the last thing he cared about.

"The appointment is in exactly two days at 3pm. A servant will escort you, and I hope that you are informed about the importance of this very first appointment. As you know, the first is always the most important child- Argh, appointment! Appointment, I mean! The very first therapy appointment is the most important one because, ah, because… I am certain you know why." Ramses' little slip of the tongue didn't go unnoticed. "Now leave my office and tell your sister to come here, okay? There is an important thing I have to discuss with her and we do not want you to be… in the way, do we now, Cleo?"

Rude, much?

"Of course. I'll be sure to make a good impression for my first visit with my physical therapist. I'm sure that's probably the reason you were looking for, making good impressions? But of course, you just wanted to be sure that _**I**_ knew that, didn't you daddy?" she waved for the servants to return the text books to her room "I'll make sure Nefera knows that you want to speak with her."

A tiny smile appeared on Ramses' face. "Exactly, my daughter. That was what I was looking for. What an intelligent young lady you just are." The smile and any sign of love disappeared a second later, though. "Hurry up. Time is something we, as the de Niles, should not waste by staring into the air."

"… Yes, daddy."

She hurriedly followed the servants from the room, before her father could come up with any more reasons to dislike or mistrust her.

Detouring from the path to her room, she left the servants to go on ahead while she instead made her way to Nefera's wing of the house. Cleo knocked on the bedroom door and waited for an answer.

Nefera was busy standing in front of the mirror, wearing her new necklace. Yes, HER new necklace. The fact that Ramses claimed the amulet to be for a complete stranger was unacceptable. Wasn't it obvious that the greatest treasure of the Mummy World, Queen Nefera de Nile, should get it as a gift?

As the knock was heard, Nefera's hands immediately went for the golden necklace on her neck. She couldn't forget that these _weirdos_ she was living with would get angry at her for wearing her new amulet. What a shame! They should be proud instead! Nefera was a goddess, whose well-being was the most important thing ever, after all.

"Who's there?" the princess said as arrogant as always.

Argh, who dared to waste her time right now?!

"It's me," Cleo called to her sister, "Daddy said he needs to speak to you."

Nefera put the necklace back on its place. Her father was not supposed to see his daughter wearing it. Otherwise he would probably get as mad as last year after the terrible 'soup accident'. Anyway...

Nefera got up and opened the door. "Alright," the princess answered before leaving the room. She turned around to her sister one last time before walking down the stairs. "You'd better not enter my room, you little rat," she said through clenched teeth. The last thing Nefera needed in her flawless room was her little sister stalking her! Pah!

"I wasn't going to anyway!" Cleo almost yelled at her, about ready to storm off to her own room before she was hit with a realization of what her father may want to talk to Nefera about. She reached out her hand, grabbing Nefera's before she could descend the staircase. "I think daddy wants to talk to you about making a therapy appointment. If he does, then you _have_ to go. You made a promise, remember?"

Nefera quickly pushed Cleo away from her. Body contact was gross! "Get away from me!" She yelled, holding back the urge to hit her sister's face. What did she think she was doing, grabbing Nefera like that?!

"If that's what Father wants to talk about with me, it is completely senseless! I will not go to any therapy! Who do you think I am?! A sick psycho?!"

Cleo gave Nefera an incredulous look. "You _promised_."

"Promise?! Stop lying! I didn't promise anything!"

Cleo began to answer her sister back, but it quickly turned into a noise of flustered frustration, and she quickly turned on her heel, ignoring her sister and heading towards her own room, slamming the door on her entry - not that anyone was near enough to properly hear it; it was more for the effect, really, and for the benefit of her own stress relief.

If Nefera wasn't going to honor their agreement, then why should Cleo keep her end of the bargain? Before their father left on his business trip, he would read Nefera's diary, and realize that everything he had thought about his eldest daughter was wildly distorted. But for that, she would have to enlist the help of the one person in the house that she could put her full trust into - Hissette.

It was just a few minutes later that Hissette was on her way to Ramses' office - together with Nefera's diary. Azura had shown her snake-friend the hiding place of the precious book and was now distracting her owner. Nefera couldn't be allowed reach her father's office before Hissette was fully done delivering the diary!

"Azura! Stop blocking my way!" Nefera yelled, trying to get down the stairs somehow. "You know I don't wanna run into you!"

But Azura didn't stop frantically flying around to block her owner's way. For daring to do that, she was a very very brave little bug.

"ARGH!" Nefera eventually lost her temper and grabbed a nearby book. Without thinking she hit her bug out of the air. Azura fell down to the ground.

"You know this was your own fault," Nefera said uncaringly as she walked down the stairs, not bothering to look back at her wounded scarab beetle.

Hissette quickly slithered her way through the halls to Ramses' office, determined that with Azura's help she could make it there before Nefera. She slipped in through a crack in the door as one of the servants left the office, and delivered the diary to the center of the large desk whilst the ghoul's father paced the room impatiently, waiting for his daughter's arrival. With her work done, she found a dark corner of the room to curl up in and hide. Perhaps Cleo couldn't be here to witness the event, but she certainly could.

Ramses groaned and took a look at his watch. He knew his daughter Nefera; she was probably still sitting in front of her mirror right now, doing her make up instead of listening to Ramses' orders! Once she arrived, Ramses would place a curse on her.

He turned around in anger and suddenly found a book laying in the middle of his desk. Ramses raised an eyebrow. That thing hadn't been there before, had it? The former pharaoh picked the book up to see what exactly it was and where it had come from.

 _'Of course you want to read my diary…peasant'_ was written on the cover. Oh, so it was a diary! Nefera's? Cleo's? Ramses didn't know… _yet_.

He looked around to check if he was alone. Ramses didn't see Hissette in the dark corner and what he also didn't do was to respect his daughter's privacy. Instead, he open the book and flipped through its contents. Only a few seconds passed until Ramses found out that the diary he held in his hand belonged to his oldest (and most unpunctual!) daughter, Nefera.

Even after knowing who it belonged to, Ramses kept flicking through the pages. Maybe there was something about _him_ in this little book? Also, if Nefera was taking so long to come down here, she probably didn't have anything against Ramses doing something to pass his time…

He read a few sentences that were stuck out to him from the text.

 _1 April  
It is my glorious birthday today, but I am not as happy as I should be. It is all Father's fault! He ruined my whole day by utterly refusing to buy me an island!_

 _6 May  
Father called me again today. I wasn't pleased when I heard what he had to say. He seriously freaked out just because I ordered a pair of shoes and paid with his credit card! …Okay, it was more than one pair but that's not a reason to freak out like that!_

 _7 October  
Argh! You won't believe what happened today! Father is so unfair! But why am I even telling you this? Father's lack of care for me is obvious anyway. He is way too strict with me! I mean, why shouldn't I be allowed to hit Cleo?! I'm older than her!_

 _4 December  
Sometimes I wished mother was back, because Daddy can't control anything at all! You won't believe what he said to me today!_

That was enough! Ramses groaned angrily. How could Nefera write such things behind her father's back?! Now he was sure, he _would_ place a curse on her once she arrived!

The former pharaoh continued to flick through the pages, not minding to rip some of them out. Ramses managed to work himself through the many pages in no time, eventually deciding to read the last entry Nefera had made. Maybe she would actually apologise? Apologise for being female, that is! Ramses had wanted a male heir!

He had begun to read the first part of the I-threw-up-and-starved-myself-entry, but his anger quickly turned into shock. Nefera…starved herself? For… her father? And for… the media? She… threw up? Several times?

Ramses felt a twinge in his heart while realizing that Cleo had been telling the truth all this time.


	58. Of a Father's Fury

_Author's note:_

 _Chapter contains mention of eating disorders, and a lot of harsh words from a parental figure._

* * *

Hissette watched quietly from her corner, not entirely sure of what was being read in the diary, but fully aware of the reader's changing emotions. Ramses seemed so angry with Nefera.

The door opened, and the very same princess stepped into the room with her usual gait of arrogance. Curling herself up even smaller - if that was possible - she kept her attention focused on the two de Niles. It was a shame Cleo wouldn't be able to hear whatever conversation was about to ensue between them - she would be so happy!

With hearing his daughter come in, Ramses quickly pulled the diary away. "Nefera," he said through clenched teeth.

"Sorry for coming so late, father. I got distracted," she answered thinking of her dumb bug. Azura had actually attacked Nefera again after falling to the ground. The nerve! Nefera couldn't see where she was going, which could have caused her to fall down the stairs. Azura was eventually captured in a glass on Nefera's desk. Before building Azura her little prison, Nefera had turned her bug on its back just to watch Azura try to turn around again. The fact that Nefera had felt superior and amused by watching her little bug struggle and squirm was besides the point; Azura had gotten what she deserved and that was all that mattered!

"Distracted, huh? By one of the many mirrors in your room?"

"Huh? No!" Argh, typical that her father would use that reasoning again! Yes, Nefera HAD arrived thirty minutes late to her appointment last year, because of her self loving attitude (she couldn't pull herself off of the mirror), but that didn't mean Ramses could always bring it up! It just happened once, okay?!

"I am tired of your excuses, Nefera."

"Excuses? What excuses? I didn't do anything!"

"How often have you lied to me, huh?! How often?!"

"I have never lied to you!" Nefera said. What nonsense. She had lied to her father since early childhood. That's why she was so good at it. Duh.

"No? What about your eating problems?"

"Eating problems?! What eating problems?!"

"Oh, I forgot. You have never made yourself throw up, Nefera, have you?"

"…Of course not. I wouldn't do such a thing."

"Another lie."

"What?!"

"ANOTHER LIE!"

"I'm not lying!"

Hissette silently uncoiled herself and slithered through the darkness to get a better view of what was happening. She just couldn't see the look of horrified confusion on Nefera's face from this angle.

"Is _my_ _lack of care for you_ so obvious?" Ramses asked, waiting for Nefera to answer.

But Nefera didn't react.

"Nefera! I'm talking to you!"

"Yeah…"

"Stop using this kind of slang! Where have you learned that, hmmm?"

Nefera made a Tzzz-noise. Her arrogant facade was still covering her vulnerable self, but it wasn't sure how long it would stay that way.

"'Bad father'? Is that what you describe me as?"

Where was he suddenly getting this information from?! Nefera faced the ground and didn't answer. She bit her lip.

"Am I a bad father just because you are a disappointment? Am I a bad father because you can't listen? Am I a bad father because of your lack of talent?!"

"No," she mumbled.

"You are everything I have never wanted. Instead of having a reasonable, _male_ heir, I had an ungrateful brat of a daughter."

Nefera gulped. Her arrogant facade was breaking, as she tried not to cry. Ramses waited for a reaction, but his daughter kept quiet.

"How does a De Nile have to be?"

"Flawless?"

"Was that a question?!"

"No, an answer."

"And, Nefera? Are you flawless?"

Tears came to the princess' eyes. _Yes, exactly._ Was she flawless? She had no idea if she was and no idea what her father wanted to hear. "No?"

"And why not?"

"Because I'm a dissappointment?"

"Why are you a disappointment?"

She looked at him. "Because… I'm not a boy?"

He groaned. "You have the intelligence of a simple peasant, Nefera. It is because you aren't flawless! Did I bring you up like that or was it your silly mother?!"

Again, Nefera had no idea what her father wanted to hear. "You?"

"Wrong."

Nefera took a deep breath. Her lip was almost bleeding and her tears would fall soon, if her father kept telling her her flaws and mistakes. He was the only person that was able to make her feel so insecure and inferior. "I need to get out of here," she said as she got up and walked towards the door.

"No! I am not done with you yet!"

The two guards standing in front of the door were blocking Nefera's way. She really tried to get through, but they were too strong. No chance to escape.

"Who do you think you are for interruting my lecture like that?! Sit back down."

Nefera did as ordered and continued to bite her lip. She didn't want to cry… Not in front of her father… He shouldn't see how weak she was…

"Why do you starve yourself?"

"I don't starve myself."

"For Ra's sake! Stop lying to me!"

"I thought being thinner would make me get more modelling jobs... And then you'd be proud again," Nefera eventually confessed.

"What a nonsene."

She didn't answer.

"Do you know why you are not flawless?"

"Because I'm not successful?"

"And why are you not successful?"

"Because… Because I'm a failure." Nefera answered as the tears were finally running down her cheeks.

"Stop crying! We are the De Niles and we are not weak! Just think about it, Nefera. What have you achieved in life?"

She sobbed. "Nothing."

"Exactly."

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"You lack in talent, wisdom and knowledge. Instead of learning for High School, you have sabotaged other people's work. Instead of going to your appointments, you check yourself out in the mirror. Instead of bringing bravery and talent to our household, you brought a useless flower, who you claimed to be a 'friend'. Instead of being a role model to your sister, you insult her. And instead of making me feel proud, you lie to me and do inappropriate things behind my back."

"Just tell me how I have to be and I will change, father," she said, still crying. Nefera would completely bend herself, just for her father's approval.

"Flawless. That's how you have to be. And I have been telling you this since birth."

She sobbed.

"You can't even respect me, can you?"

"I can."

He pulled out her diary. "I have read a little bit through this, Nefera. You cannot respect me."

Nefera gasped.

Her father got louder. "Everything I taught you! Where is it?!"

"I don't know," she answered whimpering.

"Starving yourself and throwing up does not solve your problems. It is something inferior people do. Are you inferior?"

"No…"

"What should the people think, Nefera?"

"I didn't want anyone to know."

"Well done. We all know now. And you will seek help for it." He smashed the diary on the table and grabbed the telephone.

Nefera leaned back and tried to get rid of her tears somehow.

Some minutes passed, in which Nefera was forced to listen to her father making a therapy appointment for her. As the conversation ended, Ramses put the telephone back on its place on the desk. "Two days. 1 pm."

She nodded in tears.

Ramses sighed. "My daughters. Having to go to therapy. Both of them. How could it get this far?" He asked himself, before turning back to Nefera. "I will leave for my trip in a few hours. But what I will do before leaving is talk to the servants. You will eat. Every day. Even if they have to force you, which I am assuming. Every single bathroom in this house will get monitored. I am forced to leave my precious amulet here with you, but, Nefera, if I come back and see one single scratch one it… You will regret your birth."

"Just as much as you regret it?"

"What?!"

"…Nothing."

"You are a shame to this family, Nefera. I don't know who brought you up like that, but it was certainly not me."

"Can I leave now?"

"I will call your therapist after your appointment. If he describes any difficulties in communicating to you, you will _pay_. Did you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Then leave. Out of my sight!"

Nefera grabbed her diary from the desk and left the room without facing her father a last time. Her face was tear-stained and she felt like a picture of misery. Her father didn't love her. Nobody ever loved her.

Hissette silently uncoiled herself, slithering out of the door in Nefera's wake, completely unnoticed by the de Nile girl in all of her sadness and self-pity.

Nefera had gotten what she deserved, there was no doubt about that, but the way Ramses had spoken so harshly of her made the experience strangely unsatisfying. The cobra was just glad to be out of the study by now - Mr. de Nile could be scary when he was angry.

She wound her way through the halls to her owner's bedroom, letting her know that the deed was done… not that Cleo had needed that much of a signal, really. With the volume of her father's side of the conversation, Cleo had caught snippets of the furious lecture even from her own room. It wasn't enough to know exactly what had happened, but it was enough for her to feel some sort of accomplishment.

Things were certain to be different by the time her daddy returned from his business venture.


	59. Of Being Restrained

Once Nefera had reached her room, she threw herself on the bed and let all her sadness out. She cried louder than before, since there was no one able to hear her anyway. No one but Azura. The scarab had managed to escape from her prison by moving the glass to the edge of the desk. The bug had the tiniest brain in the De Nile household, but she could still imagine what had happened in Ramses' office just a minute ago. Azura felt terribly sorry and guilty, since it was _her_ who had shown Hissette where to find Nefera's diary. Azura felt sad, she had just wanted to help. She flew to Nefera and landed next to her head. The bug tried to make Nefera feel better somehow, but Nefera didn't even notice her. The princess' face was buried under several pillows, which were wet from tears.

Cleo, meanwhile, lounged across her own pillows with Hissette tangled in her long hair. She considered going back to sleep for a short while, but she was too wide awake now - especially with the image of how awful Nefera must be feeling right now; it was all incredibly exciting.

She wondered what exactly had been said to her sister; she wondered what was happening regarding her sister's therapy; she wondered what Nefera was doing right now, how the news was sinking in for her. Mostly, though, she wondered how long it would take her sister to figure out how her father had gotten hold of her diary…

As Azura still tried to find some means of apologising, Nefera finally turned to lay on her back. "Azura, it's so terrible," Nefera said, choking on tears. "I…". She sighed. Azura flew on Nefera's belly, trying to make her owner feel better somehow. Nefera cupped her hands around Azura as a means of 'hugging' her. "I just came in and he was so angry. All of a sudden! I had no idea why! He grabbed my diary from somewhere and-"

The princess sat up. "Wait! Where did he get my diary from?!"

Azura flew out of Nefera's orbit as quick as possible. She was sure that it could only be seconds. Seconds and Nefera would realize who made this all possible. Seconds and Azura would, along with Hissette and Cleo, die brutally! The bug was frantic, trying to somehow enjoy the last seconds of her little bug life. She flew on the desk, finding this a good spot to die. Azura closed her eyes. Only seconds and she would be dead…

Nefera, though, kept sitting on her bed, not having an idea about anything. She wasn't the smartest princess, after all…

Several minutes later, Cleo's bedroom door was grabbed open. An enraged Nefera stormed in, ready to break her sister's neck. "CLEO!"

Cleo straightened up abruptly, turning to face in the direction of her sister. "Whatever it is you've gotten into your head now, I didn't do it." She tried to sound more annoyed than guilty; it wasn't hard, since, _technically_ , she hadn't done anything.

"YOU! YOU LITTLE FAILURE! YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE!" Nefera yelled, suddenly attacking Cleo by pushing her off of her bed. When Cleo was laying on the ground, Nefera sat down on her sister's body, so she couldn't get up. The elder princess grabbed the nearest object - a thick biteology book.

Nefera hadn't been eating for a good while, so she had no idea where her sudden energy came from. Regardless, she hit the book against Cleo's head as hard and as often as possible.

It wasn't difficult to see that Nefera wasn't in control of herself.

For possibly the first time that summer, the de Nile servants were quick to intervene and pulled Nefera off of her sister, removing the book from her grasp and restraining her from any further attack while others filtered into the room to tend to the younger princess, and still more went to report to the girls' father. He would need to know about this; the two daughters may need to be separated for the duration of his trip.

"LET GO OF ME! LET GO, I SAY!" Nefera yelled furiously. "GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OF ME!" She struggled and started to breath heavily. Once relinquished, Nefera would become a tornado and destroy the entire room and every creature in it, so it was clear that for the safety of the younger de Nile sister Nefera would have to be restrained until she finally did calm down, or until their father dealt with her, whichever came Anubis guards kept their hold on Nefera, exchanging worried looks at the prospect of how the princess would react towards them once she was free. She may decide that she wanted everyone involved fired; but then again, it wasn't as though Nefera payed enough attention to her staff to be able to tell them apart. They were probably safe.

When Nefera realized that her servants wouldn't let her go, she became even more frantic. "Let go of me," she mumbled angrily, but out of breath. The princess struggled one last time, trying to hurt her servants somehow, but they were stronger than she was. It didn't take long for Nefera to completely lose it… again. She suddenly fainted.

The servants didn't look as though they had expected Nefera's reaction, probably not knowing if it was real or just an act to have them let go of her, but they quickly decided to carry her out of the room. Cleo followed closely, less out of sympathy for her sister, and more for the curiosity of how her father would deal with the situation once he arrived. Nefera had already 'fainted' three times in the last week or so; Cleo was starting to think it was just something her sister did for the attention.

Nefera was carefully carried to her bed. This stress was just too much for her to take! She didn't know if she'd be awake to see her father leaving for his business trip, but she was neither sure if she really WANTED to see him again.

It was just a minute later when the head of the household entered his daughter's room. But instead of being alone with Nefera, Ramses saw at least five faces who were standing in the room uselessly. Cleo and a group of servants, who just seemed to stare holes into the air.

"For Ra's sake, what is lately happening in this household?!"

Cleo made an elaborate show for her father. "Ohh Daddy! I don't know what happened. Nefera just ran into my room, _screaming_ about everything being my fault and that I was sabotaging her life!" She clutched at the neck of her sling to make more of a show of her distress, "She went completely wild, daddy - the servants had to have her restrained! Is it _really_ a good idea to have Nefera supervising me (and that lovely necklace) while you're away? What happened, anyway?"

As far as Ramses knew, Cleo had had no involvement in what had transpired in his office… and she would very much like for it to stay that way.

Ramses groaned angrily. "I do not know what is wrong with your sister! She is behaving oddly for quite some time." Ramses moved forward and stopped as he stood in front of Nefera's bed. The former pharaoh grabbed Nefera's shoulder, trying to wake her up. "Nefera!"

No reaction.

He then turned to Cleo. "Listen, Cleo, I will be gone for quite some time and I do not want things to keep on going wrong here!" He moved closer to Cleo and whispered something darkly. So quiet, that only the two of them could hear it.

"Your sister will go to therapy, just like you. Her appointment is a few hours before yours and I want you to see her leaving, am I clear? Your sister has developed a habit of…ah…of…losing her lunch, if you know what I mean. Everything will be monitored while I am gone. EVERYTHING! Every single corner of this house will be watched," he growled darkly. "This will not happen again! If something goes wrong while I am gone, call me, alright?"

Yes, sure. That was what he always said before leaving for a trip. When there was a real emergency and Cleo _did_ call her father, he never answered his phone anyways!

"I will talk to Nefera again, before I leave. I am assuming that," he talked quieter, "no soul in this palace will talk about this in public. We are the de Niles and we are flawless! We do not go to therapy! If I hear any talk of the famous de Nile daughters spending their time with a therapist, then you" he pointed a finger as Cleo "are grounded, young lady!"

As if she wasn't already. Cleo was insulted by the fact that her father was grouping her session into the same category as her sister's. She was attending _physical therapy_ for her shoulder, not talking through her life issues. "And who would I tell anyway, daddy? I'll be here, studying, until my appointment. You've already made it _very clear_ that it's in my best interests."

Ramses growled, finding Cleo's answer both sarcastic and rude. "Argh! You are not a bit better than your sister! Just less mature! Now leave the room, your sister is not here to have you watch her!"

He turned to his servants. "I want you to leave the room as well." The servants bowed down and left Nefera's room, just as ordered. The former pharaoh was the first person they had to listen to, after all.

Cleo huffed and made her way out of the room, but not before she laid eyes on her sister's iCoffin. It was just sitting there, alone and unloved, and since Cleo didn't have one of her own at the moment she decided that she could put it to better use than Nefera could right now. With her father's attention on the older of the two princesses, Cleo quickly swiped the phone before heading out of the door. She was sure Nefera had more than one anyway; it probably wouldn't even be missed.

The second she had closed the door to her room, Cleo was swiping her way through her sister's phone. It wasn't as if it had a passcode, not even after being used as a weapon against the crown princess' ego hardly a day before - Nefera probably didn't know how.

Cleo decided that now would be the perfect time to do some long-awaited internet browsing, and catch up on how all of her ghoulfriends were doing, and if they were enjoying their Summer plans. Were they missing her? Of course they must be! Especially Deuce… what was he up to right now?

Clicking onto the Instagrim app, it wasn't long that Cleo realized that - _duh_ \- everything was currently logged in to all of _Nefera's_ profiles. She browsed the page with mild interest, just to find out how much more (or less) Instagrim famous her older sister was than her, but something caught her eye; it wasn't just the fact that Nefera's #nofilter pictures, quite obviously, _had_ been filtered… there were several - very popular - photos that had been posted that day, and in every single one Nefera was wearing the beautiful and precious necklace that their father had asked her to care for!

He hadn't even left yet, and Nefera was already taking advantage!

Oh, she was sooo gonna get it from daddy!


	60. Of Saying Farewell

When Nefera woke up, she felt a bony hand on her forehead. Oh Ra, it was her father's! She tried to remember what had happened as quick as possible. A feeling of weakness overcame the older princess. She felt so terrible. Her father was probably there to tell her how useless and weak she was and that he didn't love her at all…

"Nefera, my daughter. Are you alright?"

"Uh… Yeah. I don't know what happened, daddy, really."

"Is something wrong with you? Do you have circulation problems? You seem to faint regularly."

"No, it's just… this terrible stress." She placed her hand on her forehead and leaned back, making a 'my life is horrible and you should worry about me' pose.

"You have not been eating, have you?"

"I have!" Nefera lied, trying to make her voice sound insulted.

"Attacking your younger sister does not solve your problems."

"Father, I don't have any problems!"

Ramses rolled his eyes and groaned. He checked his watch. "I am afraid I have to leave in a few minutes, but if there is something you need to tell me, then you had better do it now."

"Why can't I go with you, daddy?" Nefera asked in a whiny, bratty voice.

Ramses looked up to the gods for a second before shaking his head. "You would ruin my trades!" He added something with clenched teeth. "Again."

"But daddy!" Nefera said, sounding even more bratty than before.

"We have tried this, Nefera."

"But-"

"NO!"

She rolled her eyes. "What are you doing in Egypt anyway?"

Now it was Ramses who rolled his eyes. "I'm dealing," he said in a disapproving voice. Where had his oldest daughter been when Thot gave out brains?

Nefera gasped. "Are you dealing drugs?!" A sound of fascination was found in her voice, along with a smirk on her face.

"I AM DEALING ANTIQUES!" Ramses yelled angrily.

"Ohhhhhh," Nefera said, everything becoming clear to her, "So, that's why you-"

"Our conversation is ended," Ramses said angrily while getting up.

"I wish you good luck with your… ah…"

"Antiques."

"Exactly that!"

Ramses groaned as he left the room. He found appearance highly important, yes, but being at least partly intelligent was not less important. Sometimes he really wondered how his oldest daughter had made it through High School. He couldn't free himself of her stupidity so easily, though, because Nefera decided to follow him downstairs. She wanted to make a huge scene out of the fact that Cleo wasn't there to officially say goodbye to Ramses, but there was an interesting conversation she began to overhear as she apporoached. Ramses didn't seem ready to leave yet - he was talking to a group of servants!

Nefera froze in place listening to their private conversation. She didn't understand any full sentences, but the couple of words Nefera _did_ hear weren't difficult to identify as being aimed towards her. "Eat…" "Force…" "Bathroom…" "Monitor…" "Therapy appointment…"

Nefera gasped quietly - Sadly not quietly enough, though. Both Ramses and the servants turned around to see the princess standing behind a statue in the corner. "Uh… Ah… Daddy! Cleo isn't even here to say goodbye to you!" The princess said in a shocked voice, trying to overplay what had just happened.

Ramses raised an eyebrow. "I'm not leaving just yet, Nefera."

"Oh! I didn't know you would still be…" she started to clench her teeth, "talking to the servants."

"I just wanted to make clear that your diet plans are not tolerated in my household."

Nefera bit her lip. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Their conversation was interrupted by Cleo, who was walking towards her family, wearing a smirk on her face. "Daaddy…" Cleo said in a sing-song voice as she approached, "Do you have a moment before you leave? I have something I need to show you."

She handed her father the iCoffin, scrolling the screen for him (because he still wasn't the greatest with modern technology) and letting him see the assortment of images of Nefera wearing his important artifact.

"I just thought you should know what's happening already, daddy. You trusted this to us, and I know you don't want _anyone_ abusing that privilege." The word 'anyone' was, of course, punctuated with a glare towards her older sister.

Nefera looked over to see what her boring family was doing. She suddenly gasped. "You stole my phone! You little rat! Daddy, Cleo is a thief!" She said, frantically pointing at her evil sister.

But Ramses' yelling wasn't far. "I told you not to wear the necklace, Nefera!"

"B-but daddy!"

"You are as responsible as a three year old!"

Nefera gasped another time. "That's not true, daddy!"

"It's not the first time you have broken your promises!"

"I-I… I just wanted to show everyone what a great father you are with trusting me to take care of this beautiful, BEAUTIFUL necklace!"

"Nefera! This amulet is for a very important client!"

"Oh, please. Who could be more important than me?!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"N-N-No…"

"You can't take care of anything!"

"You never taught me," she mumbled.

"You're mother was supposed to," Ramses answered, using his wife's parenting as an excuse for basically everything.

"You can trust me, daddy, really! This time, it is an ultimate test!"

He groaned at his daughter's idea.

"I promise to take care of the necklace and-"

"You will lose it."

"No!"

"It's not the first promise you've broken, neither the first important thing you have lost…"

"I didn't loose the necklace yet, daddy!"

"Yet."

"I will take care of it! I promise!" She smiled at her father as innocent as possible, trying to make him trust her again.

Cleo hoped that her father wouldn't be persuaded by Nefera's facade, because _she_ certainly wasn't. Ramses obviously wasn't sure what to do, or who to trust.

Nefera grabbed her phone in a greedily, just to show her father the many likes her pictures had. "Look, daddy! These people here are all my adoring fans," Nefera said in a tone rather arrogant than proud. "They love the necklace too!"

"Hmm."

"All I did was trying to market your necklace somehow, father."

"The necklace is already sold, Nefera."

"Yes, I know! But many people have recently asked me what kind of antiques you sell. I tried to describe those rare treasures as best as possible, but nobody actually believed me! They wanted to see the nice ancient jewelry you sell. So I just decided to take a few pictures of me actually WEARING the necklace! Everyone was fascinated!"

Ramses looked happily surprised until he remembered something. "You didn't even know I was selling antiques, Nefera. Didn't you just ask me what I will be doing in Egypt just some minutes ago?"

Nefera fake laughed. "Oh father! I was just joking," she lied. "I wanted the fact that so many monsters are interested in your antiques to be secret! I wanted to surprise you later on!"

Ramses smirked. He was incredibly proud of his oldest daughter and her marketing strategies.

"But sadly _SOMEONE_ ruined the surprise by stealing my phone away from me when I felt sick, just to use it for her OWN benefits." She turned to Cleo. "You are incredibly selfish!"

Ramses turned to her as well, presenting his youngest daughter an angry growl.

"Didn't daddy forbid you to use the internet, Cleo?" Nefera asked, smiling as fake as on her stupid selfies.

And just like that, it was once again Cleo who was in the wrong. "I just thought that, because I didn't get to actually _use_ my television privilege the other day…" Oh, why was she even bothering to try and explain herself? Nefera had an answer for everything.

"You thought you could just abuse your sister's rights?!" Ramses answered angrily.

"Cleo is so mean to me recently!" Nefera said to her father in a whiny, helpless voice, trying to get him angry.

Ramses groaned. "Your ghouls' age difference is just too big. If Cleo was a little older, if she had spent more time with her tutors, instead of her mother who was spoiling her all the time!"

"I totally agree, daddy. It's just too bad _we can't all be me, hmmm_?" She said charmingly while looking her sister dead in the eyes.

Cleo honestly wondered how different things would be if she and Nefera had been twins. Would it have really made them any closer? Would her and Nefera be - Ra forbid - _the same_?

"I just found the post, and I didn't know what Nefera's 'plans' were, so, naturally, I was concerned. Is that a bad thing, Daddy?" she pleaded with her father, but the pharaoh remained unmoved.

"Stealing is something only barabaric people do! We are the de Niles! We don't steal!"

Cleo sighed and pulled at the corner of her sling "How long is there until you have to leave?"

"I can't believe Cleo is going this far already, daddy!" Nefera butted in, not allowing her little sister any time to speak with their father. "Maybe she is," she smirked at her sister, "still seeing her boyfriend behind our back?"

Ramses groaned just at hearing the suggestion, but then remembered Cleo's question. He checked his watch. "I will have to leave now, or I will be late for my flight."

"But doesn't our pilot fly you with the private yet, daddy?"

"I don't want to make him wait!" Ramses answered angrily.

Nefera raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with making commoners wait? And wait for royalty, no less?

"He is tired of waiting all the time. Last time he had to wait three hours longer than planned, just because A CERTAIN SOMEONE wasn't quite ready to leave the luxury spa yet…"

Nefera rolled her eyes and looked away. Their pilot was totally unflexible! He should get fired! It wasn't Nefera's fault that she had needed an extra long massage, after all! Neither was it her fault that she had decided to go shopping in a nice boo-tique instead of going back to her waiting pilot.

"Before I go," Ramses announced, "I want to make you ghouls an offer." Both Nefera and Cleo knew that he didn't mean it as an 'offer'. He would force them eventually to do whatever he said.

"It will be you BOTH who take care of the necklace."

"But daddy!" Nefera whined.

"This is a great way for you to learn communicating to each other."

"…Communicating?!"

"Yes, communicating."

Nefera rolled her eyes.

"If I come back and the necklace has a single scratch on it, you are both grounded!"

"But-"

"No excuses!"

"Cleo is not responsible enough, father! And then I will get punished just because she made a mistake!" She added something through clenched teeth, so quiet that only Cleo could hear it. "Or because she IS a mistake."

"Then teach her how to become more responsible."

"But daddy!"

"I expect you two to do as I say or bad things will happen!"

Nefera rolled her eyes at him. "Does it have something to do with curses?"

"…Maybe."

The older princess crossed her arms. It was a huge shame that Cleo wasn't being forced to hear an endlessly long lecture from her father, regarding the iCoffin issue. the younger princess, however, was eternally grateful for that small blessing. The more presedence their father's amulet took over Nefera's phone the better.

"I'm sure we can work together to do well, daddy. We are de Niles after all." Cleo reassured him, moving in to give him a one-armed hug goodbye, "We'll miss you."

Ramses growled. Maybe because he was angry, maybe because his daughter was daring to _hug_ him without asking, or maybe just because he was Ramses de Nile. "I'll leave you ghouls alone and expect that you, Nefera, will be the minder of the royal property and the servants. You are also responsible for your younger sister's well-being."

Nefera smirked darkly. "Of course, daddy," she answered arrogantly, before dramatically clasping in her father's arms. "I love you so much, daddy!" She said loudly, acting as though her father may never return. "I wish you a good flight," she then added in a sweet tone.

Ramses growled another time. "Get off me!" He said angrily, pulling his arm away from Nefera.

"I'll keep Baby Cleo in control, don't worry daddy!" Nefera stated as she waved goodbye, still trying to act all sweet and caring.

Ramses nodded and left the house, along with a few servants, who would accompany him. None of the de Niles could ever be left alone _without_ people to obey their orders, after all!

Both Nefera and Cleo waved farewell as their father left the property. They may have looked like two proud, loving daughters, wishing their caring father a wonderful trip. But everyone who knew the de Nile family at least a tiny bit, knew that it was all very different different.

It took the door five seconds to close, the servants one minute to leave the hallway and Nefera two seconds to back Cleo up against the hard stone wall. "Who do you think you are for stealing my iCoffin, you little brat, huh?! Did you forget your place?!"

Yes, Ramses had only left the property for one minute and seven seconds - and Cleo had already found herself being yelled at by her, apparently insane, sister.


	61. Of a Certain Someone's Return

"Ouch, Nefera! I just wanted to go online, why is that such a big deal?" She pushed her away and brushed herself off. "You really shouldn't be so rough with me, Nefera, you heard what daddy said - _you're_ being charged with my _care_ , which means that if anything, _anything_ , happens to me, then on your head be it."

She waited for that information to sink in. No doubt the older de Nile princess had thought that being in charge would give her the right to torture her little sister in any way possible, regardless of the consequences. Cleo smiled slyly, thinking that maybe she could wrap things around to work in her favor instead. "If you need me, I'll be back in my room. My shoulder is feeling awfully soar from where you just pushed me, big sister, and it would be a terror-ible shame for someone to have to call our father to say that I'd been taken to hospital for my injuries. Again."

And with a wave, Cleo sauntered away with her entourage.

Nefera raised an eyebrow. Oh. Again she had taken action before actually THINKING before. How could she not have thought about that tiny detail? "You deserve to go to hell for what you did to me," Nefera yelled both angrily, and dramatically, walking off in the opposite direction to her own room.

 _'It wouldn't be hell without you.'_ Cleo thought to herself as she increased the distance between herself and her sister. Slipping into her room, she dismissed her servants, telling them that she just needed some rest and their presence wasn't necessary. No sooner had she sat down on her bed, a small stone had flown through the broken window and rolled towards her across the floor. Standing back up, she picked up the pebble and walked over to the window sill to see where it had come from.

Deuce!

"What are you doing here?!" She whisper-shouted, checking around her room to make sure there were definitely no servants present.

"I was out with my board and saw your dad leaving, so I wanted to come say 'hi'." He paused briefly. "Hi."

"Hey." She relaxed against the window, smiling at her boyfriend's gesture.

"So… can I come in?"

"Not through the front door you can't! My father might not be here, but Nefera still is."

"Then I'll come through the window."

Cleo stood up straight, raising her eyebrows at Deuce's proposition. "You must be joking."

He smiled back up at her. "Come on, Cleo, the wall's just a big slope, right? It'll be easy."

The princess gave in; she wasn't really going to put up much of a defense against Deuce anyway - this was all very flattering, really. Stepping away from the window, she returned to her bed and waited for her boyfriend to climb in.

"See? Easy." Deuce remarked only a few minutes later as he stepped down into the room. "Wait, what happened to your arm?"

Cleo looked down at her sling, as if wondering what Deuce was talking about, before she realized that, of course, he hadn't known about her little 'accident'. " _Nefera happened_. But it's fine, I'm healing." There was no need to worry him, they'd only just gotten to see each other again. "Anyway, what did everyone say about me not coming back to Monster High? You told them, right?"

Deuce didn't look either convinced or impressed by the way Cleo glossed over the subject, but he answered her regardless. "There's still, like, two weeks until school lets in, Cleo, give me a chance!" He smiled at her, "but yeah, they know - it was all over Critter! Not that most monsters believe the hype, though. There's a lot of people sayin' you're just going abroad with your dad and won't be back for the first few days, and it's all some big publicity stunt to get everyone to miss you."

Cleo had to smile at that herself. If she ever _did_ get to go back to Monster High, then she would have to try that one scaremester - it sounded like a pretty good idea. She patted the plush mattress next to her, inviting Deuce to sit down. It had only been a short while since they had last talked, but Cleo had really missed him. "So… what have you been up to?"


	62. Of an Interlude of Interference

Right as Nefera was about to play a dramatic act of marching angrily into her room, she heard Cleo talking to someone elsewhere. Abandoning her initial goal, Nefera walked towards her sister's closed door to listen to whatever was happening inside. Was it something forbidden? Hopefully!

The crown princess froze a few seconds later when she heard **Deuce's voice**. He was here! In Cleo's room! Without permission!

Ramses wasn't there, and Nefera doubted that telling the servants about Deuce's presence was amusing enough (he would just get thrown out again, _yawn_ ), so she decided to do something better. Deuce was only an innocent little toy in Nefera's life and spicing up his and Cleo's relationship with a few fights would be funny, right?

The attractive princess disappeared in her own room and came out again a minute later, wearing a saucy dress. It was shining in gold and the shortest piece of clothing Nefera could possibly have found; it was strapless, and only covering the body parts that really _needed_ to be covered. Nefera's red lips and high heels were, along with her golden-painted nails, completing the picture.

The older of the two sisters hid just off to the side of Cleo's doorway, waiting for her little sister to come out, so she could start her little show.

"… So now my aunt Stheno's coming over next weekend, and she wants a rematch, so I'm gonna have to find a killer recipe for that."

"Well, you know I don't like to brag," Cleo lied, "but if it's ideas you need, my family has some truly golden ra-cipies that have been handed down through the centuries." She stood from the bed, not giving him any time to accept or decline. "You stay right there, I'll grab the tome."

No sooner had she slipped out through her bedroom door was she met by her older sister. "Nefera," she greeted dismissively, looking her up and down. She'd changed clothes since their father left, but that was no big deal really; Nefera was always changing into different outfits. Cleo didn't bother to offer any explanation of where she was going, and she didn't wait for her sister to ask.

Nefera's evil glance followed her sister until the younger princess walked down the stairs, out of sight. Nefera grabbed an amulet out of her cleavage and smirked. She whispered an ancient egyptian spell. The amulet flashed up. It was working! Yes! Nefera was certain that, wherever her sister had to go, she would stay there for a while. She couldn't hold herself back from laughing darkly. Nefera then cleared her throat and confidently opened the door to Cleo's room.

"Hello, Deucey," Nefera said seductively, while pushing up her breasts, as fake and brummagem as a Barbie doll.

"Uhmm… Hey, Nefera." Deuce said awkwardly, not sure why she was being 'nice' to him instead of having the servant's come and throw him out right there and then.

Meanwhile, Cleo made her way down to the kitchen in search of the family ra-cipe book. She felt strangely lethargic, as if she was moving more slowly than usual, and as she reached out her hand to pick up the large volume,

she came to

a complete

stop.


	63. Of Causing Drama

Nefera smiled in a cheeky way. She came closer to Deuce and took a place next to him on Cleo's bed. "I have missed you a lot, Deucey, baby," Nefera stated charmingly while putting her hand on Deuce's toned stomach. Her perfume smelled like a thousand roses and she wore a dress shorter than Deuce had ever seen it on Cleo… Shorter than he had ever seen in on ANYONE, to be honest.

"You have so many sexy muscles, Deucey," Nefera moaned, repeating the pet name her sister sometimes gave to him, already having her hand move under Deuce's t-shirt.

"Okay, uhh… thanks..?" Deuce replied, scooting further along the bed away from Nefera and pulling his shirt down further, as if that would stop the ghoul from putting her hand back there. The older princess was very attractive, yes, but it was her sister that Deuce was interested in. What was Nefera even doing? What was she trying to achieve if Cleo wasn't even in the same room to be mad at her? And talking of his ghoulfriend, what was taking Cleo so long, anyway?

"Are you, ah…shy?" Nefera asked sweetly, pulling Deuce closer. Once he was close enough, she moved herself to sit on his lap. Nefera placed her hands around Deuce's neck and looked him the eyes, or at least she assumed they were making eye contact, since they were hidden behind a dark sunglasses.

She felt that Deuce wanted to get out of this nice little situation and didn't wanna charm his snakes, yet, so she instead drilled her nails deeper into Deuce's flesh and came even closer. "Deucey," Nefera mumbled seductively. Their lips were almost touching. Nefera closed her eyes. Ra forbid, she would never ever EVER have her very first kiss with Deuce, but using him as a toy was actually quite amusing!

Deuce stood up abruptly, pushing Nefera onto the bed by herself and receiving a scratch from her long nails in the process. "I should go see if Cleo needs help finding that book."

Nefera got angry. She stood up as well. "No, you should not!" She raised a hand, ready to slap him if he dared disobey her further. "Why are you suddenly so rude, huh?! Don't you have any manners?!"

She focused on Deuce's hair and grabbed his wrist to stop him from leaving just now. The princess quickly overcame her sudden attack of rage and made eye contact with the vipers on Deuce's head. One single glimpse gave her their full attention.

 _"You will stay here, Deucey,"_ she said hypnotically, using her ability against the Gorgon boy. Oh yes, he **would** stay. Nefera always got what she wanted and Deuce had no chance! He was helpless. HELPLESS!

Every corner of Deuce's mind was screaming ' _NO!_ ', but he didn't leave to go and find Cleo. His ghoulfriend had (reluctantly) told him about the unique family trait that the de Niles shared, and the Gorgon had no doubt as to what Nefera was doing to keep him in the room. Not only was he feeling insulted at being told that he had no manners, he also _really_ didn't appreciate being mind-manipulated.

So Deuce decided to put a stop to it, and raised a hand to his signature shades.

Nefera gasped and immediately grabbed his hand. "Don't. You. Dare," she said, aghast. "Don't you dare do this to me…"

She put his hand down in a sweet way. "We could talk! …Or something. Anything you want, really! I'm flexible. But you don't have to overreact like that, Deucey, really! I didn't do anything! I'm innocent! I promise!" She put on puppy eyes, along with an innocent smirk.

"Yeah, okay, so what do you want to talk about? How I'm still not good enough to date your sister?" Deuce answered back sarcastically. "Look, I know you don't like me, so why are you doing… all _this_?" he gestured up and down at her barely clothed frame. And what even _was_ 'this', exactly?

Nefera laughed darkly. Deuce was an idiot and she would fool him!

She then sighed. "I'm just really sad," she mumbled, facing the ground. When she had Deuce's attention, Nefera walked back to Cleo's bed and sat down. She quickly grabbed the amulet out of her cleavage and whispered some dark words.

Two minutes. Exactly two minutes and Cleo would be free from her curse again. Why? Well, because she deserved to see something to bring a little drama into her sweet little life…

Nefera put the amulet away as quick as possible, so Deuce wouldn't notice anything. She then started to sob and hid her face behind her hands. "C-C-Can we talk?" She whined, sobbing terribly, begging for a last chance.

Nefera was a mean person and there were many monsters in the world who wouldn't be sad to see her get hurt, but anyone with just a _tiny_ bit of empathy would've felt heart-broken, looking at the poor crying Nefera on the bed. Unfortunately for Deuce, he was a very empathetic monster. He almost felt sort of bad for being angry at her.

So, the least he could do was to sit down and give Nefera someone to vent to. "How come you can't say anything to, like, Cleo or anyone? I mean, she's your sister, right? If your upset, can't you talk to her about it?"

"You don't understand," she sobbed. "Everyone's lost to me. I don't have anyone anymore! I'm all alone on this cruel world! Cleo is so mean all the time!" And there she sobbed again. "I need a h-h-hug," she mumbled, falling into Deuce's arms, then sobbing some more.

Cleo's fingers closed around the ra-cipe book after what had felt like an eternity. There was no doubt in her mind that Nefera had had something to do with… whatever had just happened… and she hurried back up to her room to check that her boyfriend hadn't been removed from the vicinity.

In the meantime, Deuce had given in with a sigh and allowed Nefera to stay where she was, leaning into him; maybe she really _did_ need some kind of comforting right now. "Hey, you're not _all_ alone - I'd bet Cleo would _totally_ listen if you wanted to talk stuff out. Sometimes, that's all you need."

It was only a matter of moments before the pronounced 'smack' of the heavy recipe book echoed through the bedroom, making its two occupants turn around. Cleo was standing in the doorway, looking as though she was on the verge of tears. She hadn't heard any of what was being said. All she knew was that her, still _very_ scantily clad, sister _was all cuddled up with her boyfriend_.


End file.
